Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has revealed that Nicolò Zaniolo could make his debut against Hibernian on Wednesday night.
The 24-year-old arrived on an initial season-long loan deal from Galatasaray last Friday, and so he missed the deadline for registration to be involved against Everton this past weekend.
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Having missed a number of games prior to his move due to a groin strain, there was uncertainty over whether or not the Italian international would be available for our upcoming games, but Emery has dismissed those injury concerns and has revealed that Zaniolo could feature in the first leg of our Europa Conference League play-off round tie against Hibs.
“Hopefully yes, I think so,” he is quoted as saying by BirminghamLive. “Of course, we closed his signing on Friday, and on Saturday it was impossible to take his registration.
“He is fit because he was training with his team and of course, we will need players helping us. He has experiences. He won the Conference League with Rome and we are happy with him.”
Given his lack of football in recent weeks, it remains to be seen if Zaniolo is fit enough to start, but ultimately it would be a real boost in itself if he makes the bench to give us more depth and puts himself in contention.
Ideally, Emery will want to bring him on in the latter stages to improve his fitness and match sharpness ahead of our trip to Burnley on Sunday, but there is no doubt that if Zaniolo stays healthy, he’ll have an important role to play for us as we try to compete on multiple fronts this season.
He scored five goals and provided one assist in 11 appearances for Galatasaray last season following his move from Roma in February, as he quickly established himself as a fans’ favourite with the Turkish giants.
The hope is that he’ll be able to replicate that in Villa shirt, as Emery will rotate over the next fortnight given our hectic fixture schedule ahead of the international break, and that will give Zaniolo an opportunity to showcase what he can bring to this team.
Given the technical ability, strength, speed, eye for goal and experience he has, it’s hoped that he’ll be able to adapt quickly and make an immediate impression, and that could start at Easter Road on Wednesday evening.
Nicolò Zaniolo in training ✅#avfc #UTV 🇮🇹🟣🔵 pic.twitter.com/hSoC4Y4xMf
— Talk Villa (@thetalkvilla) August 22, 2023
