Nicolo Zaniolo’s Aston Villa career may have been restored after a 100% stat against Zrinjski emerged; he appeared to be on his way out in January.
Nicolo Zaniolo hasn’t had the best of loan periods at Aston Villa recently, but his last performance for the club gives him renewed hope for his near future in Birmingham.
After injuries to both Jacob Ramsey and Emilio Buendia, the Italian international was signed on loan from Galatasaray over the summer, and was meant to provide Aston Villa with the cutting-edge attacking influence they needed to progress this season.
While the Villans have been on course to do so, Zaniolo has remained relatively inconspicuous in his Villa career, with John McGinn, Leon Bailey, and Ollie Watkins doing the majority of the heavy work in attack.
In his ten Premier League games so far this season, he’s yet to register a single goal or an assist, has underperformed his expected assists (xA) tally of 0.52, expected goals (xG) of 1.49 and recorded just 0.6 key passes per game, registered zero big chances created and his shots on target per game are pretty woeful with just 0.4 [SofaScore].
His period in an Aston Villa shirt was made all the more concerning when he was forced to withdraw from the Azzurri training camp in Coverciano last month after police questioned him and Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali regarding the recent Serie A betting scandal.
The Aston Villa forward has been questioned by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office and has continued playing football regularly while his counterpart Tonali is banned from all footballing activities for 18 months.
One of his most concerning Villa displays, the 3-1 win over Luton Town on 29 October further reflected just how much Zaniolo is struggling to acclimatise himself despite his teammates playing with such superb confidence right now.
A booking in the 28th minute was the most thrilling moment for the attacker, who touched the ball 28 times but only completed six passes in total [Sofascore].
Playing on the left side requires creativity, which Ramsey shown multiple times last season, but Zaniolo has shown none, attempting two crosses that both failed and completing 0% of his attempted dribbles.
Losing possession eight times in 45 minutes told the entire tale, with the Italian just winning three of his 11 ground and air duels.
In his 45 minutes on the pitch against Nottingham Forest (5 November) it was a similar theme, he had just 23 touches of the ball, recorded a pass accuracy of 78 per cent from the nine passes he played and lost possession 12 times [SofaScore].
However, every player going through a poor phase like Zaniolo needs one moment or game to get back on track, and the Italian international had both against Zrinjski on Thursday (14 December).
The former Roma attacker scored his first goal for the club in the 1-1 draw that secured their place in the Europa Conference League final 16 but it was his overall performance that impressed his management.
His perfect long-ball accuracy was backed up by four tried crosses, three shots on goal, and seven attempted dribbles, demonstrating how he looked to make things happen in the final third, as well as two important passes. [Sofascore].
While there is still much to be desired from Zaniolo in a Villa shirt, this performance will provide him with a solid foundation upon which he can build and look to turn in a run of form at Villa Park, beginning with the Premier League clash against Brentford on Sunday 17 December, in which he is expected to start.
It’s crazy how things can change in a footballer’s career and Thursday’s display could certainly be Zaniolo’s turning point when it seemed like his temporary loan at Villa Park was all set to end in January.
