The agent of Aston Villa attacker Nicolo Zaniolo admits a move to AC Milan was close.

Zaniolo left Galatasaray last week for Villa in a loan deal with an option to buy.

“When this opportunity arrived in the Premier League with Aston Villa and Monchi, we worked with Galatasaray," agent Claudio Vigorelli told Radio Sportiva. “It was hard to convince them (to let Zaniolo go), but it is the dream of all players to go to the Premier League.

“This was a great opportunity. I thank Galatasaray and its president for having made Nicolo's dream come true in a negotiation that was complicated at the beginning."

He also revealed: “Things were going the right way (with Milan), but then everything changed in the management and things weren't reopened.

“Nicolo would still have been happy to stay in Turkey.

“He was thinking about the Champions League and he was happy. Then Aston Villa arrived and we saw how it went."