Zaniolo gearing up for Atalanta or Fiorentina by forgetting Galatasaray

Nicolò Zaniolo is preparing a return to Serie A by scrubbing his social media of Galatasaray references, but it remains a battle between Fiorentina and Atalanta.

The Italy international will return to Turkey after a loan spell with Aston Villa failed to do enough to make them activate the option to make the move permanent.

The Premier League side paid €5m for the season-long loan plus bonuses of up to €1.375m, but passed on the option to buy set at €22.5m plus another €15.5m in add-ons.

Those were the figures provided officially by Galatasaray when he made the move to Birmingham.

If he is to come to Italy this summer, as seems likely, multiple reports suggest it will be for a total of around €20m.

Atalanta and Fiorentina are both in constant contact with Galatasaray to work out a deal, as every day they seem to switch places as favourites.

It is giving Zaniolo confidence his next season will be in Serie A, so he has scrubbed his social media accounts of references to Galatasaray.

Zaniolo barely played in Turkey

Turning 25 next week, he was forced to miss EURO 2024 due to a fractured metatarsal.

He moved to Galatasaray for €15m when refusing to play for Roma again in February 2023, as the other transfer markets had closed with no agreement found.

Zaniolo made only 12 appearances for Galatasaray, contributing five goals and one assist.