Aston Villa playmaker Nicolo Zaniolo has suffered an injury blow that will rule him out vs Crystal Palace on Sunday, and EURO 2024 this summer.
The 24-year-old joined us on a season-long loan deal last summer from Galatasaray, but despite making 40 appearances across all competitions, injuries and fitness issues have disrupted his stint at the club.
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Zaniolo has managed to contribute just three goals and no assists in those 40 outings, but it doesn’t appear as though he’ll be adding to that tally this weekend when we travel to Selhurst Park.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Italian international suffered a micro-fracture in his foot after coming off the bench in our 3-3 draw with Liverpool on Monday night, and not only will he miss our season finale this weekend but sadly he has also been ruled out of featuring at EURO 2024.
That has now been confirmed by the player himself on social media, and so it’s a disappointing end to his season.
It’s a devastating blow for Zaniolo who would no doubt have been desperate to shine on the international stage in Germany this summer, and so it’s hoped that he can make a speedy recovery and get ready for pre-season.
At this stage, it seems unlikely that it will be in a Villa shirt as with his limited impact coupled with the lack of any announcement suggesting that the clause in his loan agreement to make it a permanent move has been triggered, the feeling is that he will return to Galatasaray at the end of the current campaign.
That in turn would mean we’ve seen his last appearance in a Villa shirt, but time will tell if Unai Emery is still eager to bring him back and if Villa subsequently open negotiations with Galatasaray over new terms.
Ultimately though, with Emiliano Buendia and Jacob Ramsey to return from long-term injury setbacks next season, the emergence of Morgan Rogers in the second half of this campaign, and with the likelihood of Villa entering the transfer market to strengthen the squad, Zaniolo’s stay at Villa could be coming to a disappointing end.
