Aston Villa will not trigger Zaniolo clause – why Milan are interested

AC Milan have reignited their interest in Nicolo Zaniolo in recent times. However, his loan spell with Aston Villa is a worrying showing of a player who has previously been incredibly promising.

Milan’s interest in Zaniolo stretches far before his move to Galatasaray, but his performances since the move could make them look away from the former AS Roma attacker. Just six months after moving to Turkey, he moved to Aston Villa, where he has failed to impress, let alone impress regularly.

In the Premier League this season, he has only made 19 appearances and only seven of those have been games where he has started. This is already a worrying sign, but the fact he has only contributed once, a goal in December, further proves his spell has not been a success.

As reported by Calciomercato.com, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Villains will activate their buy-clause in the deal, worth around €27million (which Roma would get 20% of due to a clause inserted into his sale).

Therefore, he will return to Turkey. However, it looks like he will not stay there, as several Italian sides (including the Rossoneri) are interested in his availability, but the conditions would have to be right.

Galatasaray are unwilling to accept anything less than €20m for him. However, they could be open to a loan with a buy-clause or buy-obligation, which could tempt Milan to finally bring him to the club, as long as the opportunity to do so is reasonable.