Torino Receive £62m Bid For Star Striker Andrea Belotti

Premier League giants Manchester United have gone in for Italian striker Andrea Belotti to fill the void left by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

According to reports in Tuttosport (via Sky Sports), the Europa League champions have bid a whopping £62m for the Torino talisman. This offer was supposedly spearheaded by Javier Ribalta, Juventus’ former head of scouting, who left the Serie A champions to join Old Trafford last week.

Belotti got onto United’s striker shortlist after an impressive season in Serie A, where he scored 26 goals in 35 appearances. Italian club Torino value the striker highly, and have an £88m buyout clause for him. However, United are unwilling to pay that much amount for the 23-year-old striker, which is why their bid has been rejected.

The Red Devils are having a difficult time in the transfer market, as they haven’t managed to get any target to fill in the shoes of Zlatan. Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata remains their prime target, but a deal hasn’t been reached yet.

Reports stated that the Morata deal will be announced in the coming weeks by United, but Real president Florentino Perez said that the English giants haven’t made any official enquiries. The Spanish champions have indicated that they are in no hurry to sell the 24-year-old, and reports now claim that they are holding out for £80m.

United will have to spend close to £80-85m for either Morata or Belotti. If they don’t reach an agreement, they will be forced to look elsewhere.

Jose Mourinho’s first team will travel to the United States for the summer tour on July 9, and the Portuguese will hope that the club manages to bring in an attacking reinforcement by then.

 

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Written by Rajdeep Saha 

Sports journalist with stints across print, digital and television. Contribution to each medium has been thrilling. Experienced in writing for this passionate game called football. Journalist by choice and passion.