Aston Villa have reportedly reached an agreement with Galatasaray on a loan deal with an option to buy for Nicolo Zaniolo, as he edges closer to completing a move.
Speculation has been rife in recent days over the 24-year-old’s future, with Villa being heavily linked with a move to sign him as Unai Emery eyes reinforcements in the final third.
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According to Fabrizio Romano, the two clubs have now reached a verbal agreement on the terms of the deal, which will be worth €27m in total, but as an initial loan for this season with an option to buy included.
It’s added that the Italian international is expected to undergo a medical on Wednesday, while personal terms are already agreed and so there are key obstacles that have been overcome already.
There is still the absence of official confirmation from either club at this stage though, and so we’ll wait for that to arrive before we can feel entirely confident that the deal will go through.
Should Zaniolo sign with us though, he will become our fourth summer signing following the arrivals of Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby, and it’s another top-level addition from the club to continue to strengthen Emery’s squad.
Villa were dealt a major blow last week with the news that Emiliano Buendia had sustained a significant knee injury that could potentially rule him out for the entire season, and so action was needed to respond to that and fill the void.
Although we were arguably already in the market to strengthen our attacking options anyway as we prepare to compete on multiple fronts this season, the injury to the Argentine playmaker has made adding reinforcements in attack a necessity this month, and the signing of Zaniolo will come as a huge boost.
With his speed, strength, directness, technical quality and eye for a goal or assist in attacking areas, he will bring a fresh and welcome dynamic to our attack and it’s easy to see Emery getting the best out of him and helping him to develop his game further.
It’s hoped that should a move now materialise, that Zaniolo will establish himself as a decisive and reliable presence in the squad, particularly given his injury issues in the past, but it’s certainly an exciting move from Villa given the quality that he possesses and how well he could potentially fit into our style of play and system.
