Nicolò Zaniolo has failed to shine since joining Aston Villa from Galatasaray on loan, with a conditional obligation, last summer.
Last week, his agent said the experience in England has been wonderful for the 24-year-old and didn’t rule out staying in the Premier League.
Calciomercato state that won’t be the case and the winger will not continue at Aston Villa next season.
The Villans would have had to make Zaniolo’s loan stay permanent for €27m if he had played 80% of minutes this season. This won’t be exercised as he clocked in less than 1,300 minutes from 38 games, scoring three goals in the process.
He has to return to the Turkish club and look for a new destination in the next window.
The former AS Roma man’s priority is to return to Serie A and his entourage have been working on several options for the past few weeks. A move to Juventus isn’t on the cards even though their technical director, Cristiano Giuntoli, seems to be keen.
Calciomercato say Fiorentina have shown ‘concrete interest’ and are ‘in pole’ to secure the Aston Villa man’s services. They add the Serie A side have made contact that could lead to the start of negotiations.
Fiorentina’s idea is to sign him on loan with an obligation to buy if certain set conditions are met. He earns €2.75m per year and this falls within the Italian club’s wage structure.
Their chairman Rocco Commisso knows his side have an advantage over Napoli, another interested party, and has to make a decision on whether to take decisive steps to secure his services.
The report explains that the ‘temptation is strong’ to relaunch Zaniolo, and Fiorentina are reflecting on a ‘possible big coup’ in the summer window.
It looks like Zaniolo’s future is far away from Aston Villa, even though his agent didn’t rule out staying in England.
