Report: Newcastle set to lose race for £7m wonderkid to surprise rival

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Newcastle United have lost the race to sign Bayern Munich wonderkid Joshua Zirkzee, with Serie A side Bologna set to land the Dutch youngster on a permanent deal.

According to Sky Germany, the Italian club have agreed a €8.5m (£7m) deal with Bayern to sign Zirkzee, with Newcastle missing out on one of the Bundesliga’s best talents and a player who could have offered a lot to Eddie Howe’s squad for the new season.

Zirkzee is regarded by many as one of the best youngsters in Germany as well as a future star for the Netherlands national team, with the striker starring for R.S.C. Anderlecht last season as the 21-year-old bagged an incredible 18 goals and 13 assists in all competitions.

As you can expect, such form drew plenty of interest from across Europe, with Newcastle reportedly keen on signing Zirkzee this summer, however, it is Bologna who have won the race for the Schiedam-born attacker in a deal that could be one of the shrewdest of the entire window.

Indeed, Bologna have made some top signings over the years that include the likes of Aaron Hickey and Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Zirkzee could become the Italian side’s next exciting youth project given how prolific the Bayern talent was last season for Anderlecht.

Whilst Newcastle are on the verge of signing Alexander Isak for a club-record fee, missing out on Zirkzee is a big blow for the Magpies, especially with how fluid and adaptive the forward could have been under Howe, yet Bologna have now surprisingly pipped everyone to the youngster’s signature.

Bologna stand to make huge profit one day on new signing Zirkzee

As mentioned, Bologna have been one of the best Italian sides in the transfer market at finding hidden gems where other clubs would fail to look, and Zirkzee, whilst a highly-regarded player on the European youth scene, fits this bill to a tee, with Emilia-Romagna side now set to make a huge profit from the Newcastle target in the future.

After all, if Zirkzee can replicate even half his Anderlecht form in Serie A this season, Bologna will have a serious asset on their hands, and for the likes of Newcastle, they could be forced to pay a huge fee for the striker in the coming years should the Dutchman continue to develop in Italy.