Bharath Rammr
Manchester United are shifting their focus towards Torino forward Andrea Belotti after facing setbacks with regard to a number of transfer targets. We have been linked with the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Romelu Lukaku for much of 2017, but there have been a lot of setbacks in the last couple of weeks. Griezmann decided to stay at Atletico Madrid in order to reaffirm his commitment to the club. While, Bayern Munich have joined the race to sign Romelu Lukaku, as Manchester Evening News exclusively reported the setback faced by Manchester United in the pursuit of the Belgian beast.
As a result, we have shifted our attention towards Belotti, who had a brilliant campaign with Torino. The 23-year-old reportedly has a release clause of about £88million, and the Italian club are keen on offering a new deal so that this release clause is increased even further. The striker’s contract runs out in June 2021, which makes it extremely difficult for Manchester United to consider signing him without activating his release clause.
Tuttosport (h/t theSportReview) claim that Manchester United are keen on testing Torino’s resolve with a £70million offer to start with. But Torino President has insisted that he would not sell the Italian striker for anything less than £88million. United are clearly convinced that Belotti is a better signing than Morata, who has largely spent his time on the sidelines at Madrid.
Belotti was one of the key players in the Italian Serie A last season after managing to grab 26 goals and 8 assists in just 35 league appearances. He came to Torino only in 2015 from Palermo and has sizzled since then. His talent was obvious to see, and his goalscoring prowess has not just been exploited by the Italian club. His exceptional form saw him make his debut for the Italian national team in 2016. Since then, he has scored 3 goals in his 8 appearances.
After having burnt the fingers with a lot of big money moves, the club need to be extremely careful in their next step. It appears that Manchester United are seeking the help of Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes in order to complete the deal.
