It's interesting what they're doing. They've effectively moved on any older players and are instead building a squad full of young players with potential, and Pochettino seems like a decent fit for that approach. However I'm not entirely sure why they've done it when they were already top 4 regulars and recent champions league winners. It seems like a gamble they didn't need to take. It could well pay off but at the moment it seems like 2 steps backwards.
I wouldn't be surprised if he was the striker option, even though he hasn't really played there much it looks like he has the qualities for it. Someone posted a video of a hat-trick he scored in the conference league and he was making the runs of a good CF and finished like one too.
THE CLAUSE - The contract that Zaniolo has signed includes a release clause that will decrease over time: 35 million euros in the summer, between 28 and 30 million in 2024 and between 23 and 25 the following year.
From here: https://www.calciomercato.com/news/zaniolo-non-aspetta-il-milan-voglio-la-champions-col-galatasaray-99501
I saw talk he has a €35M release clause so they probably knew there was a good chance he wasn't going to be there long. They obviously won't be keen on it being a loan though so may have to end up paying a bigger loan fee to get him.