According to the reports from the Chronicle, Newcastle United are keeping tabs on AS Roma’s young midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo. The 19-year-old arrived at Roma last season in a swap deal where Radja Nainggolan joined Inter Milan. Roma also managed to bring former Newcastle defender Davide Santon in that deal.
At just 19, Zaniolo has established himself in the first team. He has also managed 27 appearances for Roma in all competitions. The midfielder even showed his mettle in big tournaments as he scored twice in the Champions League tie against Porto.
Zaniolo is an attacking midfielder by trade, and his major strengths are his pace and work rate. His pass picking abilities in the final third make him a significant asset. There is no doubt (atleast to us) that he will be a future Italian international as well. His impressive pace allows him to play on the right flank as well.
United are said to be following closely on this talented midfielder as Mohamed Diame can depart the club in the summer. Jonjo Shelvey is also being monitored by West Ham United. Shelvey has failed to get back his place in the team after he initially was out due to injury. The form of Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden has kept the former Liverpool ace out of the Newcastle first team, and there could be a chance that he might make a move out of the club in the summer.
Therefore Benitez might need to add a midfielder or two to his repertoire, but he is still not aware of how much transfer funds he would receive in the summer to boost his squad. Given that Roma signed him in the summer of 2018, we don’t think that the 19-year-old would come in cheap.
The midfielder has represented Italy at various youth levels, and he should be in line for an appearance for the senior Italy side soon. With no disrespect to the Magpies, we feel they are trying to sign someone who is out of their league. At Roma, the midfielder is getting to play in the Champions League. Lesser clubs often manage to attract specific big talents because they can offer regular game time, but Zaniolo has already established himself at Roma in his first year.
Therefore we don’t see him making a move to a club which has fought relegation battles in England in the past two seasons. Moreover, clubs like Juventus and Real Madrid are also said to be interested in him so the Toon are probably trying to bite off more than they can chew.
