Premier League Trio To Battle For Italian Sensation Andrea Belotti
REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
English giants Manchester City have joined Arsenal and Chelsea in the race to sign Torino striker Andrea Belotti.
Belotti, known by his fans as ‘Il Gallo’ (the Rooster), has been in sensational form this season, and has already netted 22 goals in 24 games so far. He also became the youngster striker in Europe’s top five leagues to reach 20 goals in the ongoing campaign, thereby attracting massive interest from several European topdogs.
The 23-year-old has been linked with big-money moves to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, along with Premier League sides Arsenal and Chelsea. And now, as per CalcioMercato, Manchester City have joined their English counterparts in the pursuit for this talented young forward.
With Sergio Aguero’s future with the Citizens still in major doubt, City boss Pep Guardiola seems to have already identified Andrea Belotti as a potential focal point of attack for his team, and will therefore attempt to bring the Italian to the Etihad come summer.
But in order to secure the player’s services, Manchester City, or any interested party, for that matter, will have to cough up a mammoth €100 million, as per Torino’s club chairman Urbano Cairo.
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Cairo recently spoke to Sky Sport Italia, stating: “We set Belotti’s clause and it’s true that we would be forced to sell him abroad for that sum if he agreed to the move. However, in Italy, I still have the right to refuse all offers, or the player could decide not to leave even if there are offers above €100m (£86m).”
However, Cairo also believes this release clause to be too low given Belotti’s recent performances. In fact, he went on to claim that he thinks his young starlet is currently worth more than Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.
“If you think back to when we inserted that clause, €100m seemed a crazy figure, but today it seems too low,” he added. “If I were to do the clause now, I would put it at €150m. Just compare him to the goals Lionel Messi has scored, yet Belotti is younger so he’s worth more.”
