Zaniolo preparing to sign Aston Villa contract – report

Nicolo Zaniolo will reportedly sign his contract with Aston Villa later this evening ahead of his transfer from Turkish giants Galatasaray.

The Italy international is believed to have completed his medical with the Midlands side earlier on Thursday afternoon.

Zaniolo will join Villa on an initial loan deal from Galatasaray at a cost of €4m, although Unai Emery’s side will have the option to make the move permanent for a total fee of €27m.

The 24-year-old joined Galatasaray from Roma for a fee of €15m plus up to €10m in bonuses in the January transfer window. The Giallorossi are entitled to 20% of Zaniolo’s future sell-on fee, which could bring in up to €6m for Jose Mourinho’s team.

Zaniolo had an opportunity to play in the Premier League just over six months ago when Bournemouth came knocking to Roma, but that move eventually fell through, leading to a move to Istanbul instead.

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We’re delighted to welcome football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley as our exclusive columnist, he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Aston Villa.

Dan Plumley has shared that Aston Villa could earn up to £8.5million for lifting the Europa Conference League this season, with qualifiers ahead.

The finance expert revealed that the Villans will bank just under £2.5million for qualifying to the group stages alone, with the upcoming qualifier against Hibernian or Luzern making that likely.

Compared to the annual Premier League revenue of £180million, it isn’t seen as much, but European football returning to Villa Park is the most important thing.

“This is based on last year’s figures, and we expect it to be in a similar ballpark when we see the figures,” he exclusively told Villa News.

“It’s not big money at all in the Conference League, but it’s good money and a European adventure which is great for the club.

“The starting fee in the group stages last season was just under €3million guaranteed, and then you’ve got win bonuses along the way.

“If you get all the way to the final, you’re looking at banking about €10million which did happen to West Ham

“In the grand scheme of the revenue at Aston Villa, it’s tracking at £180million for a Premier League, it’s not a massive shift in revenue, but European football is obviously the most important thing for the club and every little helps in that way.“