AS Roma's Italian midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo eyes the ball during the Serie A football match Roma vs Hellas Verona played behind closed doors on July 15, 2020 at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, as the country eases its lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP) (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)
In an old report from The Guardian from a few months ago, it was claimed that Tottenham were tracking Nicolo Zaniolo. However, the interest was seen as a future move as the playmaker stayed back at Roma and Spurs went for the targets they had in mind.
Zaniolo started out at the Genoa academy, before making the switch to Fiorentina’s youth setup. Having risen to the U17s with the Viola, the attacking midfielder made the switch to Entella, linking up with their U19 side in 2016. Inter Milan then signed him up a year later.
The 20-year-old shined brightly for the Inter Primavera side, bagging 14 goals and 9 assists in 29 games before Roma signed him up in 2018. Since joining the capital club, Zaniolo has made 69 appearances, scoring 14 goals and assisting 6 more.
Unfortunately, his meteoric rise was cut short as he suffered a Cruciate Ligament injury this season and has been ruled out of action at least until March. The youngster was just starting to make his mark on the national team as he made just 7 appearances scoring twice.
Tottenham have one of the best squads in the league as they managed to strengthen some key areas and also added depth in positions that needed. However, with certain few developments in the last few months has resulted in a requirement for a creative midfielder.
Christian Eriksen left midway through last season. Now Dele Alli has fallen out of favour with Mourinho and he has just been afforded 6 games in total amounting to 243 minutes of game time. Much was expected from Giovani Lo Celso but even he has struggled to get regular minutes.
While Harry Kane has taken up the role of creator-in-chief (rather surprisingly), the club definitely could use a natural number 10 in their ranks. A potential superstar like Zaniolo would be the perfect fit and it was no wonder that he was a transfer target for them.
Zaniolo could potentially be out for the season but he can be a great signing for Tottenham in the summer. He was one of the hottest prospects in Europe before that long-term injury. It does pose a question as to how he will perform once he has fully recovered. But returning for him next season is the best move for Spurs as it would give them enough time to judge the situation and then proceed.
