Indeed. It is a good market to explore. I am very keen on Nicolò Barella personally. I think there has long been a bit of a stigma in the PL though regarding imports from Serie A. Seems teams don’t always trust Italian talent here, they aren’t heralded travellers perhaps.
Nicolò Zaniolo...
- Thread starter Rozay
- Start date
I think we could have a chance of signing him from Roma.
Vialli, Ravanelli, Di Canio and Zola might disagree. All forwards though I suppose.
He reminds me of Javier Pastore, incidently now also plays for Roma.
The skill, calmness on the ball and audacity to pull off outrageous moves are quite similar.
Another exciting player which play in similar style in Serie A is Lucas Paqueta.
The skill, calmness on the ball and audacity to pull off outrageous moves are quite similar.
Another exciting player which play in similar style in Serie A is Lucas Paqueta.
For me, Zaniolo isn’t too dissimilar to Kai Havertz, and would cost half the price.
No, it wouldn't. Everybody knows Premier league clubs swim in money. They would try to milk the cow.
Someone can correct me, but if I'm not mistaken he has been very very good for Inter right?
Very good. And for Italy. He would have been a brilliant signing for us.
I only really watched him in the game against Napoli yesterday, and he scored a cracking goal.
He's big, strong, and can run the ball with pace. However on the ball he looked a little untidy, mostly due to his size. I'm not sure how well that'd translate go the premier League. I think it works for Roma as they play a sort of high intensity, overloaded midfield, but e.g. if he was playing for us currently I feel he'd give the ball away a lot.
He's big, strong, and can run the ball with pace. However on the ball he looked a little untidy, mostly due to his size. I'm not sure how well that'd translate go the premier League. I think it works for Roma as they play a sort of high intensity, overloaded midfield, but e.g. if he was playing for us currently I feel he'd give the ball away a lot.
He gives the ball away a lot for Roma, too. It's because he's 19, he tries a bit too much. It's part of the reason why he's so good already
He's basically playing like Alli did for Spurs in 16/17 right now, last few games. Hence his scoring like a striker of late
Cappello compared him to the great Serbian player Dejan Savicevic who played at AC Milan in the 90s which is high praise. The lads star is shining very bright now and he's a player that would fit in like a glove in our current team. I personally hope we try and sign him with Smalling going the other way.
£40m plus Smalling?
£40m plus Smalling?
I would.
He’s quality. Reminds me of a younger De Bruyne/Gerrard in many ways.
He has been preforming very well, for club and country. An exchange deal involving Smalling would be great. Guy is quality.
I like this player. Love his passion. But I don't think he's as good as other posters say he is. He's not the complete player yet; as opposed to Sancho who is. Don't think United should be buying incomplete projects for more than £30m.
Yes, Use Smalling in any deal. This guy is class and would cost less than Havertz, and maybe we could get him in January.
Glad he didnt end up at Spurs in the summer. The Italian clubs are sometimes really weird in their decisions to sell their talented players, i am sure they would be open to sell in a moment of madness.
Obviously he isn't a complete player yet due to his age. We're in a position now as a club, where we need to take a chance on players like Zaniolo before they get too big for the likes of Roma and start attracting attention from the likes of Barca and Madrid and the asking price spirals out of control.
Smalling plus cash.
Knowing our luck , it could be Dzeko plus cash for Smalling.
Knowing our luck , it could be Dzeko plus cash for Smalling.
He fits the so called 'profile' that Ole and the club are looking for, young and talented if not British.
Would certainly consider a swap deal with Smalling, in theory this should give us the jump on other potential suitors but it's whether Ed can engage his brain and use that to our advantage.
Let's hope Smalling keeps up his form in Italy, if he does I think Roma would do business if we put enough cash into the deal.
Would certainly consider a swap deal with Smalling, in theory this should give us the jump on other potential suitors but it's whether Ed can engage his brain and use that to our advantage.
Let's hope Smalling keeps up his form in Italy, if he does I think Roma would do business if we put enough cash into the deal.
This signing would make no sense, given he is not a left winger or a center back. We are not allowed to strengthen our positions of weakness, like our right flank or the entirety of our midfield.
I don't want to lose him yet but to be honest, I don't think he's ready for Premier League just yet.
Definitely needs a couple more seasons of consistently playing and gaining experience. Initial things he can improve on is releasing the ball more quickly and needs to be stronger when he has it and is running at defenders.
Definitely needs a couple more seasons of consistently playing and gaining experience. Initial things he can improve on is releasing the ball more quickly and needs to be stronger when he has it and is running at defenders.
Yeah a left-footed #10/RW who's good at holding up the ball and playing through balls is a comically perfect fit for us:
----------Martial----
Rashford-Zaniolo-James
----------Rashford----
James------------Zaniolo
----------Martial--------
James------------Zaniolo
and Greenwood as another option. If we want to sign just one attacker, back the young players we have and of course spend the rest of the money on the 2 central midfielders and left back we need, Zaniolo (or positionally similar in Ziyech and there are presumably others, maybe Oyarzabal at Sociedad too) is a very logical fit.
Looks a very good player from his highlights. The only negative I got was that he doesnt look to have pace over a long distance. His acceleration looks good when he's near the box, but he looked alittle slow on the break from the half way line.
Didn’t know much about him till I started a Roma save in football manager, then started watching some Roma highlights on YouTube through intrigue. He looks good, big and strong, good finisher and seems to have a knack for being in the box at the right time. Anyway he becomes amazing in football manager and because of that he should be signed at all costs.
What's his potential?
I have no problem taking a chance on incomplete players. I have a problem paying the "complete player" - spiralled out of control - price, for someone who's not there yet.
You won't be paying it, so there's nothing to worry about in that regard.
I also believe Zaniolo can be bought for a fairly reasonable price in the current market. He's a player that is considered by some as the best young talent in Italy currently and it would be a very sensible move on our part in the current market. He can play multiple positions in attack and is a good dribbler with very good acceleration and a big goal threat. Reminds me of Kaka in his style, and the comparison to Savicevic made by Cappello is a apt one which just shows how high his potential is as a young player.
Maddison and Havertz would cost considerably more than the young Italian IMO but they don't have more potential from the evidence at hand.
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With Roma you never know, they might have a need to sell, but otherwise, he'll be ludicrously expensive to sign
Biggest italian talent since at least Verratti
Biggest italian talent since at least Verratti
We need him here, and they want Smalling. Come on Woodward, this one looks like it can be done.
He's been very good this season but I think it's just so easy to overrate young talent. If he continue to develops as he's been doing, then he has a very bright future ahead.
Wasn't Romas main attacking approach for some matches last season to give the ball to Zaniolo and hope that he could do something with it?
Long term is the lad RW, CAM, CM or which position do you reckon?
He’s like 19, so can be developed effectively in all 3 depending on the team. I personally think a CM in a 3 would suit him best. Like Kevin the Belgian, he can play all three roles. But I think he is arguably short of a little silk to be best suited to being a pure 10, and is not rapid enough (or a David Beckham/De Bruyne of a crosser) to be best as a winger. His strengths of a blend of finesse and power make him best suited for a CM to me. He’s not a typically Italian midfielder, and is a Prem player to me. De Bruyne, Gerrard, Barkley - this is the type of player I think he shares similarities with. A driving, all action force from midfield, adding a good amount of goals too.
In some respects yes but the fans love seeing a young player who played with confidence. The majority of our good service came from Kolarov and El Shaarawhy but we were quite poor last season.
I just don't want us to hinge on Zaniolo to bail us out but he seems to be recieving more support from his teammates this season.
If he can continue developing this season at the rate he's doing, then he'll be wanted by quite a few clubs. It's just he's so young and I don't think he should rush in leaving just yet, he's getting plenty of games with us and while we haven't won anything in years, we will compete for the domestic cup and maybe Europa which I hope also in turn validates his development.
He's not fast on the wing for the Premier League in my opinion but he's showing a good footballing brain with his movement and linkup play so if he were to sign for United (I think it's too soon for him to leave personally), I'd like to see him operate behind Martial with Rashford and James on the wings with the pace.
Watched him for Italy.. what a talent. Good to seen Italians producing good players again. Any idea where he plays. Was playing off the right.
Would be an excellent signing. He’s young, so we could wrap it up next summer and send him back on loan. Could have a world beater by 2021
He doesn’t need a loan. He’s already at our level.