Nicolo Zaniolo, who Tottenham reportedly showed interest in during the January transfer window, has admitted that he is not likely to stay at Galatasaray for the long term.
Zaniolo was seen as the next breakout star in Italian football and one of the best young prospects in the world just two years ago.
However, successive ACL injuries hampered his progress and the 23-year-old was not able to hit his previous heights for AS Roma since his return to fitness.
Some reports indicated during January that Spurs came quite close to striking a deal with the Giallorossi for the Italy international (90 min).
However, the North London club decided to bolster their forward line with the acquisition of Arnaut Danjuma on loan instead while Zaniolo completed a move to Galatasaray for a fee of £19.5m, with his contract at the Turkish club thought to have a release clause of £31m (Fabrizio Romano).
The former Roma star has now been speaking about his future and about the options he had during January, but there was no mention of Tottenham.
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Zaniolo told Gazzetta dello Sport (as relayed by Fabrizio Romano): “I can’t guarantee that I will stay in Turkey for 5 years.
“I had Galatasaray and Bournemouth as options in January. Fenerbahce wanted me too, but I gave my word to Galatasaray – the stadium here is amazing.”
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I suspect that Spurs were only interested in signing Zaniolo on loan with an option to buy in January while Roma were looking for a permanent sale.
Now that Conte has departed, I would be surprised if Tottenham reignite their interest in the 23-year-old in the summer, irrespective of how well does at Galatasaray.
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