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Aston Villa doubts emerge after Nicolo Zaniolo medical - Gianluca Di Marzio
Aston Villa are now having doubts about whether to sign Nicolo Zaniolo from Galatasaray, according to Gianluca Di Marzio.
The Sky Sports Italy journalist reported via his website on Friday (18 August) that Zaniolo, 24, has had a medical in the West Midlands but Villa are undecided whether to proceed with signing him due to a “high risk of muscle injuries”.
It is understood that Unai Emery has spoken to Galatasaray about Villa’s concerns and a decision is now due to be made “in the next few hours”.
On a knife-edge
Di Marzio suggests this transfer is now really hanging in the balance.
Villa need to decide whether or not they want to sign an injury-prone player to replace Emi Buendia, who has been ruled out for what could be the entire 2023/24 season with a knee injury.
Emery shouldn’t take any chances but it’s odd that Villa went as far as jetting Zaniolo into England knowing that he’s had some injury issues in recent seasons – albeit them being minor ones.
Zaniolo has missed some of Galatasaray’s opening games this season due to a groin strain.
Last season, he missed several games for Roma with a shoulder injury while he also was given 30 days of leave by the Italian club due to depression.
In 2021/22, he didn’t miss many games either, playing 42 times in all competitions.
He did have a couple of hip and knee issues but they were only minor.
Aston Villa’s medical may have flagged up other issues but with Buendia out for so long, Villa cannot run the risk of replacing one crock with another.
In other Aston Villa news, a pundit has shared what John McGinn told him about “really bad” news at Villa Park.