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Unfortunately for Steve Bruce, Newcastle United and their fans, the signing of Valentino Lazaro, which looked so close to completion just a few days ago, appears to be slipping away ever so slowly.

It all appears to have started with the player’s agent revealing an agreement hadn’t been found with the Premier League side, and making it clear other options were available to his client.

The name of RB Leipzig was heavily mentioned, while the representative took to Instagram to show the world he was about to hold talks with Bologna.

Fast forward to Wednesday morning, and the news isn’t great.

Both Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport agree on something, which is that Valentino Lazaro has two possible destinations in Newcastle and Leipzig, but it’s the latter of the two that he ‘prefers’.

For Corriere, they simply say the Bundesliga leaders ‘have the advantage’, while Gazzetta explain the Austria international would prioritise a move to Germany, having ‘good memories’ from his time there and because of where the club is in the table compared to Steve Bruce’s men in the Premier League.

Leipzig currently sit four points clear of Bayern Munich at the top of the German top-tier, while Newcastle are 13th, and could be overtaken by Burnley, who have a game in hand.