Mueez Ajao
– AS Roma midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo has completed a move to Turkish side Galatasaray, the Serie A club said on Wednesday.
Official: Nicolò Zaniolo has been sold to Galatasaray.#ASRoma pic.twitter.com/BLd3MEMc9f
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) February 8, 2023
– Zaniolo has signed a 4-1/2-year deal, and Galatasaray would pay Roma a transfer fee of 16.5 million euros ($17.70 million) and a further 13 million euros in add-ons, according to multiple reports in the Italian media.
Official, confirmed. Nicolò Zaniolo has signed as new Galatasaray player, now confirmed by AS Roma statement 🟡🔴 #Galatasaray
▫️ €16.5m fee;
▫️ €13m add-ons;
▫️ Four year contract;
▫️ €3.5m salary per year;
▪️ €35m release clause included.
🇮🇹🤝🏻🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/mIf4yJk1ja
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 8, 2023
– The 23-year-old, who joined Roma in 2018 from Inter Milan, made nearly 130 appearances for Italy’s capital club and scored more than 20 goals in all competitions.
Also Read: Resurgent Roma leave Empoli feeling blue
– “You welcomed me as if I were at home,” Zaniolo wrote in a farewell post on Instagram.
– “You made me grow, you gave me a chance that I tried to take with all my heart, always honouring the history you represent, fighting for your colours, sweating for the jersey every time I wore it.
– “Now that we’ve said goodbye, I want to tell you one thing… It was an honour.”
– Roma coach Jose Mourinho admitted in late January that Zaniolo asked to leave the club.
– “I say ‘unfortunately’ because the player has been saying for a month that he wants to leave. If a player tells everyone he no longer wants to wear the Roma jersey, I have to say ‘unfortunately,” Mourinho said.
– “The ideal situation is for the player to be happy. I said that I expected him to stay, but as things stand today, I have to add ‘unfortunately’ to that sentence.”
– Zaniolo, who has won 11 Italy caps, missed the second half of the 2019-20 season and whole of the 2020-21 campaign because of two serious knee injuries.
– He returned in July, 2021 after Mourinho was appointed Roma coach, scoring six goals to help them win the Europa Conference League.
– Galatasaray lead the Turkish Super League standings on 54 points from 22 games. They have a nine-point advantage over second-placed Fenerbahce who have a match in hand.
