Amorim gets his wish: Talks opened for deal that will delight Man Utd boss

Tom Weber

• 19 Nov 2025 13:32 CST
• 3 min read

News

AS Roma have opened talks with Tottenham over the signing of Mathys Tel, providing a big boost to Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim in his fight to keep Joshua Zirkzee at the club.

The Netherlands international is unhappy at Man Utd and is looking for a January loan to salvage his chances of making Oranje's 2026 World Cup squad, but Amorim does not want to be left short of forward options.

With only Benjamin Sesko - who is currently nursing an injury - available as an out-and-out striker, Amorim is keen to keep the versatile Zirkzee around, even though he has barely used him this season.

Transfer insider Fabrizio Romano confirmed as much in the past 24 hours. "Look, now there is the AFCON, and so some players are going, there is the injury of Sesko," he explained.

"If you have injuries, if you have problems, whatever happens, you need another striker, and Zirkzee can be used as a No.9, as a No.10 behind the strikers. So for Amorim, he's an important player. Amorim wants Zirkzee to stay."

Roma shift focus to Tel

Several clubs have expressed an interest in signing Zirkzee in January, chief among them Serie A giants AS Roma, who have tried in vain to convince Man Utd to sanction an affordable winter deal.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Roma have seemingly shifted their focus to Tottenham youngster Mathys Tel. Contact with Spurs has been made to sound out a potential January move for the wonderkid, who has so far failed to live up to the hype in North London.

The France youth international was initially signed on loan from Bayern Munich in January - with a whopping €60 million purchase option - but Spurs successfully managed to push his price down to a more reasonable €35m in the summer.

However, Tel is frustrated with his lack of opportunities, having started just three Premier League games so far this term and being omitted from the club's Champions League squad.

The report states that Tel could be the kind of game-changing signing Roma need to tilt this season's Scudetto race in their favour, but it is acknowledged that there is no chance of a permanent move. A loan, however, is deemed 'the best solution for all parties involved.'

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store