Nicolò Zaniolo was linked with a move to Juventus for a considerable period. The Turin-based giants are known to poach for the best of talents from within the Serie A, and in this case were definitely interested. Despite multiple reports indicating a speed up of their efforts in the summer transfer window, nothing exactly materialized.
Milan were also keen and even put a loan offer on the table last month. Reports suggested the player had agreed to personal terms but the Rossoneri ownership made it clear the club will not provide the management with any extra budget, other than for a loan option. The player was also a long-term target for the Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, managed by Italian Antonio Conte. The interest of the North London club subsequently subsided.
There were a few other clubs in the fray as well. However, all the clubs insisted on an initial loan move, with the obligation to make the transfer permanent. Roma, on the other hand, wanted to monetize the sale, make the most of it as soon as possible and derive a value for money by making the sale of one of their deemed assets.
In the meantime, the player made his desperation all the more evident. He not only clashed with the club management, trying hard to negotiate his departure and even handing a transfer request, but also annoyed the owners. More importantly, he managed to alienate the otherwise forgiving and eternally passionate Giallorossi fans. As a result, he was initially left out of the roster and subsequently banned from the team altogether. Jose Mourinho, his manager, rated him highly and wanted him to improve as a player. Zaniolo, on the other hand, was keen on securing a lucrative move. The relationship reached a point of no return.
Even with the player side-lined, there was another lucrative offer on the table, from relegation-threatened Premier League outfit Bournemouth. Roma was ready to accept it. However, the player initially declined, and when he made a volte-face, the club from Dorset had second thoughts.
After a protracted saga all the brouhaha finally came to an end, with neither the club nor the player exactly benefitting. While Roma got their wish as regards a permanent transfer, the amount they will receive is considerably lesser than their actual valuation. Not to forget, the Giallorossi has to pay a 15 percent sell-on fee to Inter. As regards the player, suffice to say after being linked to a host of high-profile names, the only two clubs that showed genuine interest in him weren’t exactly on top of the heap. But instead of being side-lined in Rome, the player was forced to make a call.
After holding out too long, Zaniolo is now a Galatasaray player. The Istanbul’s club proposal, that materialized before the Turkish league transfer window shut down, is worth considerably less, of course. In fact, the player’s release clause (€35mn) is close to what Roma had expected in terms of transfer fee. Tiago Pinto, the club’s sporting director, admitted it was a “difficult situation to handle” and the Roma management expected more out of the Zaniolo deal than they actually managed.
That being said, they were also satisfied to have got rid of a player who was neither consistent on the field nor displayed decent conduct of it. The player had, in any case, ceased to be a part of the club’s plans.
There was never any doubt as regards Zaniolo’s talent. The doubts, if any, pertained to whether the player will be able to realize his potential. While the 23-year-old showed glimpses of his talent more often than not, he was either injured or reckless. His time at the Italian capital was underwhelming, to say the least. Two major anterior cruciate ligament injuries kept him away from competitive football when on the rolls of Roma, first during the second half of the 2019-20 season, and subsequently for the entirety of the 2020-21 season.
While the 2021-22 season under Mourinho was Zaniolo’s best overall, his most memorable moments in Roma colors came in European competition. In a Round of 16 clash against Porto, in the 2018-19 Champions League, Zaniolo scored both the goals as Roma won the first leg tie at home. Then only 19, the former Inter player became the youngest Italian player to score twice in a game in Europe’s premier club competition.
He also played a key role for Roma in the inaugural UEFA Conference League. His hat-trick in the quarter-final second leg against Bodø/Glimt not only helped the Giallorossi advance 5-2 on aggregate but also secure their first win in four matches against the Norwegian side in the tournament, and that included a 6-1 humiliation suffered in a group stage encounter in Norway. The 23-year-old also scored the winner in last season’s final against Feyenoord at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana (Albania), a result that ensured Roma their first piece of silverware since 2008, and their first European trophy ever.
On second thoughts, Roma’s win in the final was not owing to Zaniolo’s goal. It was decisive, no doubt, but also a coincidence. Any of the club’s players could have scored it, including Tammy Abraham—who finished the tournament as the second highest scorer, with nine goals. The Giallorossi’s maiden European triumph was more about Mourinho’s winning mentality than it was about his ability to prioritize things.
Overall, Zaniolo scored 24 goals in 129 appearances (across all competitions) with Roma. While his impact on the field belied expectations to a considerable extent, when the Giallorossi acquired him from the Nerazzurri, they would have least expected that the acquisition will be such a sour experience, rather an imminently forgettable one. The player asking to be excluded on the assumption that he will get a fat check by forcing a mid-season transfer, and then attracting interest only from a couple of lesser clubs, is as preposterous as it can get.
In the final analysis the Zaniolo saga is, of course, a bit zany. The player’s attitude, and juvenile antics, has earned him an obvious downgrade. With all due respect to Gala, and its many fans, the Istanbul club is not exactly a high-profile option. On the contrary, as far as the Serie A player is concerned Gala is either a pre-retirement option (a la Dries Mertens) or a destination players head to, or are sent to, owing to a lack of other viable alternatives (Lucas Torreira, Mauro Icardi).
A good thing for Zaniolo albeit is the fact that besides a host of other former Serie A player, he will have a former Roma teammate for company. Sérgio Oliveira was acquired on loan from Porto last winter. But he didn’t do enough to convince the Giallorossi to exercise their option of making the move permanent. The Portuguese club was nonetheless keen to offload the midfielder, and agreement with Gala was reached last July. However, unlike Oliveira, the Italian has a lot of years left in him.
Unless a club, from one of the high-profile leagues, activates the release clause in the summer, suffice to say Zaniolo will no longer attract the media attention that he is used to. The player may continue to pin his hopes on Milan, but the possibility of that dream turning into a reality is anything but high. To expect the Rossoneri to activate the release clause in a few months is a tad far-fetched.
For someone considered as promising, going into a lesser league and at such an early stage of his professional career is a massive downgrade. Among the top echelons of club football results in the Turkish league do not quite register, neither do the performances. The expectations are considerably less, as is the spotlight on the players. Of course, there will be palpably less pressure on the player to deliver as well, and that is not necessarily a good thing.