Former AS Roma star Nicolo Zaniolo is keen on making his return to Serie A this summer and AC Milan are one of two sides who could make that happen, a report claims.
As has been reported by Corriere della Sera (via RadioRossonera), Zaniolo has only been at Galatasaray in Turkey for half a season but he now thinks he can make the return and prove his ability.
He came very close to joining Milan in January but the club would not make the funds available, so he opted for Galatasaray.
They are therefore one of the options still potentially available to him, whilst Juventus is another very possible destination for the Italian.
He left Roma under a cloud when he seemingly fell out with the club, despite being there for many years.
It may not be an easy deal, though, as he has a release clause for foreign clubs which is set at €30 million.
So we would pay twice the fee to get him now because we refused to close a deal in January then have no more budget for anymore transfers. Great idea. No wonder Maldini was fired. Our management has all the right solutions. I doubt this is an option.
Maldini wasn’t given any budget to sign players in January by Ownership – so Ownership’s fault not management (M&M). We could have gotten him on the cheap. Now forget it
Hopefully Juventus’ Zaniolo Goggles are even more powerful than ours.
Yes yes yes! Imagine Leao/Zaniolo as wingers! Sick! 😍
Sell CDK, buy Zaniolo. Instant upgrade.
Overrated
All I hear is players being linked. I just hope it isnt a last minute panic and we buy well in advance to integrate the new additions
Feels like the opportunity to sign Zaniolo has been lost forever, which is a real shame because he was such a perfect signing for Milan and at a rock bottom price.
He’s big and physical, quick without being electric, hard working, creative and very gifted technically. Even that he is left footed stands out because we have 2 starting quality players who are left footed.
I like him as a #10 but he works on a RW and even SS too. He’s still a young player. Being an Italian he was a perfect player to build the project around.
When it comes to Italian players, it’s not just a matter of being parochial. Basing Italian club teams on Italians (as long as they are good enough) does at least 3 important things:
1. it mitigates against the financial weakness Milan has against EPL sides and the powerful teams in Germany and Spain who can otherwise poach players. Italian players, as a general rule, don’t leave Italy and are generally not fashionable enough to be pursued aggressively by competitors;
2. it builds tactical chemistry because they grow up in the system and understand what the coaches are trying to do;
3. it builds a cultural chemistry. Look at the powerhouse teams for Man U, Barcelona (both under Pep and potentially even now under Xavi), Arsenal (of 98 to 04) and Milan under Ancelloti. They were all comprised of a core of home grown players, UK, Spanish and Italian. In the case of Arsenal it was a core of French nationals under a French manager. Juventus is always full of Italians, too.
In reality we signed CDK because we couldn’t afford the EU60m price tag for Zaniolo. We didn’t get the opportunity to sign Zaniolo in January for half of what he would now cost – Galatasaray signed him for less than what Roma demanded of Milan – but it was still a massive discount for a player who just needs a bit of TLC.
I have been on the Scamacca and Zaniolo wagon for a long time. I’m not as forgiving for players who don’t have the obscene level of talent. That little bit of luck or timing just hasn’t come yet and their careers, as great hopes of Italian soccer, haven’t quite kicked on yet (under significant pressure).
But this is not the first time players have struggled to realise potential in their early 20s. Changes of scenery and roles are sometimes required. Sometimes it is just the faith of a coach.
Pirlo was re-assigned as a deep lying playmaker while at Brescia because he was considered too slow for attack. This happened at the age 23/24. Luca Toni is another I have made reference to a lot recently. He was a Serie B player until 25/26 when he matured and became one of the most prolific strikers of his time.
Christian Vieri is another interesting case study. He turned 22 before he played his first game of the 95/96 season for Atalanta which was also his first season of Serie A. He was in Serie B prior to that. He scored 7 goals from 19 appearances for Atalanta in his first year (at 22). At 23 he scored 8 goals in 23 appearances for Juventus before his break out, at 24 years of age, for Athletico Madrid when he scored 24 goals in 24 games.
It would be an enormous gain to sell CDK and use the funds to purchase Zaniolo but I doubt that would be allowed. I see no other way it could happen and don’t really want to see him blow up his relationships at Galatasaray for the sole reason of getting to Milan. I worry about the psychology of the player who does that twice.
” … a release clause for foreign clubs which is set at €30 million”
The article should have started with this statement. All the rest is literature, and it’s quite obvious, at least to me, a deal is as likely as walking on Jupiter tomorrow.