Udinese to activate purchase option on Zaniolo; The remaining obstacle is the wage issue
The deadline is tonight for Udinese's option on Nicolò Zaniolo from Galatasaray—the Italian club are ready to activate it, but there is a wage issue that needs to be settled.
This is an important day for Nicolò Zaniolo's future at Udinese. The deadline by which the friulano club can exercise the right to buy him from Galatasaray is set to reach midnight tonight.
According to reports, Udinese's intentions are clear: they will exercise the purchase option within the stipulated time. Once executed, Zaniolo will become an official Udinese player.
<figure style="margin:2rem 0;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;background:#f9f9f9"><img src="https://tmw-storage.tcccdn.com/storage/tuttomercatoweb.com/img_notizie/thumb3/ac/ac16768f0a624dd6581ff64e596e657b-00877-oooz0000.jpeg" alt="Image" style="width:100%;height:auto;object-fit:contain" loading="lazy" /></figure>However, the talk about his stay with the bianconero is not over yet. There is still a pending salary issue: Zaniolo earns more at Galatasaray than what he is expected to receive at Udine. A year ago, when his loan was finalized at the last minute before the summer transfer window closed, the details of the compensation in case Udinese bought him were not agreed.
The agreement then was to set the purchase option first and discuss the salary again "at the right time". So far, based on the information gathered, there is no new arrangement that fully satisfies Zaniolo in terms of economics. On the Udinese side, it is said that there is clearly an agreement, but the gap remains based on the perspective of the player's camp.
If there is no amendment to this number, he will indeed be a full-fledged Udinese player once the option is exercised—but there are potential tensions that need to be resolved immediately at the start of his new spell in Friuli.
<figure style="margin:2rem 0;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;background:#f9f9f9"><img src="https://albumimageall.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/liga-pro/barcelona-sc/group/match-images/2026-06-10/3.jpg" alt="Image" style="width:100%;height:auto;object-fit:contain" loading="lazy" /></figure>
