Aston Villa will not make Nicolo Zaniolo’s loan move permanent at the end of the season with the forward set to return to Galatasaray.
The Premier League club secured the services of the Italian last summer but things have not gone to plan. The 24-year-old has mostly been a substitute at Villa Park and although he highly rates Unai Emery as a manager, he has not been pleased with his limited game time.
Zaniolo has played 34 matches for the Birmingham outfit, scoring three goals throughout the current campaign.
Villa plan to send the Italy star back to Galatasaray, who are open to selling the player this summer for just €20m.
Italian clubs are interested in Aston Villa’s Nicolo Zaniolo
Sky Italia are reporting that Napoli and Fiorentina are keen on signing Zaniolo ahead of the 2024/25 campaign and it is believed that the Italy star wants to return to his home country.
Other clubs may join the race but Napoli and Fiorentina are seen as the favourites to sign the Aston Villa man.
The former are looking to appoint Juventus director Giovanni Manna as their next sporting director, who previously tried to sign Zaniolo for the Turin club and could back his arrival in Naples if he were to move there.
It remains unclear where the Italian will play next season but it certainly won’t be at Aston Villa.