Villarreal have given up hope of signing Italian international Nicolo Zaniolo. The 25-year-old was in talks with the Yellow Submarine, but has decided to prioritise a move back to his native Italy.

According to Matteo Moretto, Villarreal were negotiating with Galatasaray for Zaniolo, who would have been an interesting addition to Marcelino Garcia Toral’s attack. However as soon as Atalanta appeared on the scene, Zaniolo decided to hold out for a move to the Europa League champions. Fiorentina have also been linked with him, but Zaniolo is keen to head to Bergamo, and Villarreal have ended their interest as a result.

Marcelino tends to operate with a front two, one of which will be slightly more withdrawn. That can be Gerard Moreno, but he often used Goncalo Guedes in the second half of last season too, and he has returned from his loan deal to Wolves. No doubt Marcelino wants another alternative to Moreno and Alexander Sorloth up front.

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