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When Bayern Munich loaned out Joshua Zirkzee to Parma, many fans had hoped for one of two outcomes:
- Zirkzee would re-find his form and become Bayern Munich’s center-forward of the future.
- Zirkzee would perform well enough for Parma to exercise the seemingly very high purchase option (rumored to be €15 million).
Unfortunately, neither of those two scenarios appear likely at this stage.
Per a report from Bild (behind the Bild+ paywall), Parma has essentially ruled buying Zirkzee and the Dutch youngster is almost assuredly going to return to Munich.
Zirkzee has yet to make an impact with Parma as he has not recorded a start, a goal, nor an an assist in his tenure in Italy to date. Twitter account @iMiaSanMia captured those details within this post:
Zirkzee's Parma loan is not going as planned: 108 minutes, 0 start, 0 goal, 0 assist. It's practically ruled out that Parma would exercise their €15m option to buy. Zirkzee's future in Munich is not looking good either as Choupo-Moting's contract is set to be extended [Bild] pic.twitter.com/ibJzbhPRjL
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) March 28, 2021
With Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting looking like he could secure an extension to back-up Robert Lewandowski, Zirkzee’s future is highly in doubt. It would appear — as of now — that Bayern Munich would likely have three options for the Dutchman should he return to Bavaria:
- A longer stint with Bayern Munich II to build up his value.
2. Another loan assignment.
3. A quick sale at a discounted rate.
Luck has not been on Zirkzee’s side during his loan spell either. Almost immediately after making the move, the striker suffered a back injury which put him behind the eight-ball from the get-go.
For the sake of Zirkzee’s future, the youngster might just need a permanent change of scenery to officially “start over.”