Aston Villa fourth summer signing imminent as Bayern eye Unai Emery favourite

16 August 2023 , 15:41

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Aston Villa fourth summer signing imminent as Bayern eye Unai Emery favourite

Aston Villa are set to sign Nicolo Zaniolo after Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk revealed the playmaker is on his way to the Premier League.

The 24-year-old Italy international is set to make an initial loan move to Villa, with a medical scheduled for Wednesday. Unai Emery's ambitious side have agreed to a £25million package with Turkish club Galatasaray to secure his services.

While the initial move is a loan, Villa will have the option to make the transfer permanent based on certain conditions. Zaniolo's switch to the Midlands comes as no surprise, considering the involvement of Villa's president of football operations, Monchi, who previously signed the midfielder when he worked for Roma in 2018.

Monchi has been leading negotiations with Galatasaray to add Zaniolo to Emery's squad. He is poised to become Villa's fourth summer signing after the arrivals of Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby.

Zaniolo was absent for Galatasaray's 1-0 victory over NK Olimpija Ljubljana on Tuesday in a Champions League qualifier. Buruk confirmed after the match that he expects a deal for the player to move to England to be finalised.

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“The process regarding Zaniolo continues. He’s a player who wants to play in the Premier League, we respect that. If the interests of our club are going to be met, it seems like this transfer will happen,” he told NTV Sport (via BirminghamLive ).

“It seems like it will be in the interests of the club, [but] I don’t know what will happen [with Zaniolo]. We’re going to make reinforcements to our squad again.”

Aston Villa have set their sights on Galatasaray and Italy playmaker Nicolo Zaniolo (Jakub Porzycki/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images))

It comes as Villa's World Cup winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez is being linked with Bayern Munich. The 30-year-old Argentine has been a key player since his move from Arsenal in 2020.

Bayern need a new goalkeeper after Yann Sommer's departure to Inter Milan while veteran No.1 Manuel Neuer is still recovering from a broken leg. Martinez's consistency in the Premier League has impressed the Bundesliga champions who are looking to fill another key position in their squad after completing the signing of England striker Harry Kane from Tottenham in a mega-money deal.

But Villa are in a strong negotiating position with Martinez happy working with Emery and under contract for another four years. Villa lost their opening match of the Premier League season 5-1 to Newcastle United at the weekend.

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Joseph Chapman