Erden Timur, the vice-president of Galatasaray, was all smiles when reflecting on the deal that took Nicolo Zaniolo from Roma to Turkey.

The 23-year-old Italian forward left the Italian capital in acrimonious fashion in the winter transfer window after demanding a move away from the club.

Zaniolo’s fall from grace at Roma came quickly, with the player being on cloud nine following their Europa Conference League victory last season. This campaign, unproductive contract renewal talks with the club’s management and a breakdown in relations with the fans pushed him to look for a change.

Speaking via Gianluca Di Marzio, Timur reflected on the deal that brought Zaniolo to Galatasaray and how it’s representative of the club’s plans for the future.

“Last year we invested €90m, but the team finished 13th. The only difference is that we did not have Zaniolo.

“Zaniolo had been sold to Bournemouth for €29m+3m six days before Roma accepted our proposal of €15m, to be paid over five years.

“In the last days of the market we were looking for a player with those characteristics and we had identified two profiles: Hakim Ziyech and Niccolò Zaniolo.

“For both players it happened that their outright purchase negotiations had broken down and they could have turned out to be cheap bargains.

“We bought players with a higher value than their purchase price. We are working on a 30-year vision in order to clear the debts from previous market years.”

Zaniolo has made two appearances for Galatasaray since arriving in early February, scoring on his debut against Kasimpasa. The Italian forward is contracted to the Turkish outfit until June 2027 and has a low release clause worth around €25-30m.

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