Party to the clash with the management of AS Roma during the winter transfer window, Nicolò Zaniolo had packed up on February 8 for the legendary Galatasaray club where he had initialed a four-season contract, that is until June 2027. The total cost of the transaction was around 20 million euros, with a release clause set at 35 million. It had then become the highest transfer in the history of Turkish football. The 24-year-old attacking midfielder therefore landed on the banks of the Bosphorus with a real status to assume as an eternal Italian nugget slowed down in his explosion by two ruptures of the cruciate ligaments. After a mixed start marked by this red card in six minutes and his exit filled with anger, the former Giallorosso had saved the honor of his half-season on the 37th day, by scoring twice (5 goals in 10 league appearances Turkey this season) against rival Fenerbahçe in Galatasaray’s 3-0 victory, which celebrated the club’s 23rd Süperlig title.
During this summer transfer window, one constant often comes up: Saudi clubs have not hesitated to hit the market hard since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo last January at Al-Nassr. Since then, Saudi Arabia, through its sovereign wealth fund Public Invest Fund (PIF), has recorded new golden arrivals with Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté at Al-Ittihad, Marcelo Brozović at Al-Nassr, Edouard Mendy at Al- Ahli or Kalidou Koulibaly in Al-Hilal. The latter Saudi club also hopes to play a bad trick on Juventus, which is struggling to finalize the long negotiations with the Turkish club Galatasaray for the transfer of Nicolò Zaniolo. By dint of wanting to lower the demands of the Istanbul management, the Old Lady could definitively lose the race to sign the Italian.
Meeting between Al-Hilal and Zaniolo!
Saudi Arabia has therefore set its sights on Nicolò Zaniolo. According to what the Turkish site reported Fotomac, the Saudi club Al-Hilal, which has already recruited Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves, would be ready to offer nearly 35 million euros, the amount desired by Galatasaray, to lock in the arrival of the Italian international and former Roma player in Riyadh. This track was activated at the direct request of the new Portuguese coach of Al-Hilal, Jorge Jesus, who has just settled in the Middle East after leaving… Turkey and the Fenerbahçe club where he was able to meet Zaniolo for a few months on the lawns of Süper Lig during the Istanbul Derby. A meeting is scheduled in the coming days between the leaders of Al-Hilal and representatives of Nicolò Zaniolo. The objective will be to find conditions acceptable to all parties and thus reach a final agreement during this summer transfer window.
In the event that the operation were really to be concluded on the dry basis of 35 million, AS Roma would automatically collect 4 million, i.e. 20% of the difference between the 35 potentials of the Saudi transaction and the 16 million collected during the sale in Galatasaray last winter. A multi-season contract with a salary exceeding 15 million annually should be submitted to the 24-year-old player. But beware of the stiff competition from AC Milan but especially from Juventus, which intends to accelerate its summer market with the recent arrival of new sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli. Especially since several Italian media including La Repubblica have mentioned, on several occasions in recent months, a project to re-Italianize the Bianconeri and an agreement for the Italian player to join Juventus.
