Nicolo Zaniolo is expected to leave Aston Villa at the end of the season and return to Galatasaray, with his loan deal simply not having worked out.
That’s according to Sabah, who say ‘the plan did not work’ for Galatasaray as they hoped for him to secure a permanent move to Villa Park.
The newspaper explains that Galatasaray had signed Zaniolo with a focus on the Champions League and paid big wages to secure him, but that never worked out.
Thus, they allowed him to join Aston Villa on loan in the summer, including a purchase option in the deal worth €22.5m.
That clause would have been activated if the Italian had played in at least 30 minutes in 80% of Aston Villa’s games this season but he hasn’t done that.
He’s managed 29 games in all competitions for the Villans this season but just 1010 minutes in them, making the starting 11 in the Premier League just seven times out of 23 appearances in the squad.
Thus, it appears that the deal will not be made permanent, and he will be returning to Galatasaray, who will be disappointed to see that happening.
They had hoped to make a big sale of the player but instead he will be returning, alongside a salary the Turkish side had seemingly also been hoping they could get rid of.
