Nicolo Zaniolo: Aston Villa sign Italy midfielder on loan from Galatasaray
- Published
- comments
Nicolo Zaniolo played for Roma in Serie A before moving to Galatasaray
Aston Villa have signed Italy midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo on loan from Galatasaray for the rest of the season.
The 24-year-old is likely to be a replacement for Emi Buendia who sustained a serious knee injury in training before the campaign started.
Villa will pay a £4.25m loan fee and there is a "conditional compulsory purchase option" in the deal.
If certain criteria are hit, they will pay £19.2m plus £13.2m in possible add-ons, external to make Zaniolo's move permanent.
Villa were beaten 5-1 by Newcastle in their opening Premier League game and also lost defender Tyrone Mings to a serious knee injury in that match.
Zaniolo, who has 13 Italy caps, only joined Galatasaray in February and won the league title with the club in the summer.
He is Villa's fourth signing of the summer and follows deals for defender Pau Torres from Villarreal for £31.5m, midfielder Youri Tielemans from Leicester on a free transfer and the club record signing of forward Moussa Diaby from Bayer Leverkusen for £52m.
Villa have also been linked with a move for Argentina left-back Marcus Acuna, 31, from Sevilla.
Our coverage of Villa is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
