Highly rated Italian forward Andrea Belotti is all set to sign a new contract at Torino, according to reports
The 22-year-old is the joint top-scorer in the Serie A this season, having scored 10 times in 11 appearances in the competition.
Belotti has also been very impressive with the Italian national team, scoring 3 goals in 5 appearances despite only being called up to the squad this August. Although his preferred position is second striker, he can play anywhere across the frontline.
The Italian is a good finisher of the ball, and displays a level of intelligence and composure that belies his years.
His impressive performances this season have led to him being linked with a host of teams, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea all said to be interested in signing the youngster.
According to The Mirror, Arsenal even made a £30m for the 22-year-old in the summer, but that was rejected and Belotti stayed with Torino.
All this interest has led to Torino reportedly offering a new £1.3m-a-year deal with Belotti which ties him down to the club until 2021 – with a record buy-out clause of £80m.
This buy-out clause will also only apply to foreign clubs, and it is likely any fellow Italian suitors will be rebuffed for anything less than that as well.
Only recently, Torino president Urbano Cairo said that Andrea Belotti is worth as much as Gonzalo Higuain – who joined Juventus in a huge £76 million deal in the summer.
He also confirmed that they would be working on a release clause :
“We’re talking with Belotti’s advisors and we want to extend his contract, which runs until 2020 as it is,” Cairo said, according to ESPN
“We want to show our recognition of him, while now could be a good time to insert a release clause for abroad.”
“Since I am used to saying things that I can only stick to, I cannot be 100 percent certain, but I can say that Belotti is staying with us.”
“I don’t know if there would be somebody abroad willing to give me €100m for Belotti, but I think his clause would be worth that of Higuain.”
And, according to the report by the Mirror, it now appears that a deal has been struck.
It is highly unlikely that any of the four English clubs would pay that release clause, although Manchester United did show this season that they will spend whatever fee it takes to get their man, breaking the world record by bringing Paul Pogba back to Manchester.