Nicolo Zaniolo’s’magic’ was prophesied for Aston Villa as a parallel to Moussa Diaby was made

Alan Hutton is expecting more from Nicolo Zaniolo and believes that he still needs some time to adjust to life in the West Midlands.

Zaniolo, 24, made his fourth appearance of the season for the Premier League team on Thursday night (September 21) after joining the Villans on loan from Galatasaray on August 18.

However, it wasn’t exactly a night to remember as Aston Villa fell 3-2 away at Legia Warsaw in the Europa Conference League after Zaniolo was booked and taken off in the 67th minute.

Since moving to Villa Park from Galatasaray, Zaniolo hasn’t exactly lit up the place, but Hutton thinks the Italy international needs more time to settle in and says the most recent international break didn’t help.

Technically, he is quite gifted, has some really nice touches, and has an excellent sense of when to pass.

“I don’t think it’s going to happen tomorrow,” I said. “It’s going to take him some time to settle in because he went away on foreign duty as well.

“But when he gets going, gets up to speed, and realizes what the manager is looking for, they have a real player there,” I said.

“He reminds me a little bit of Diaby. He’s different in that he lacks speed but makes up for it with an eye for a pass and a touch of magic.

I believe he will develop into a fantastic player for Villa given enough time.

Villa’s Conference League group stage campaign got started to the worst possible start in Poland on Thursday night.

The Villans are currently last in Group E after one match, and their next match is at home against Zrinjski Mostar of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who defeated AZ Alkmaar 4-3 on Thursday.