Torino President Urbano Cairo has said that it will take €150 million to sign Andrea Belotti, who has been linked with moves to Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich
Belotti has been hugely impressive this season and scored the Serie A’s fourth fastest hat-trick during Torino’s 3-1 victory over Palermo during the weekend. Speaking after the match, Urbano Cairo said that any club who wanted to sign Belotti would have to pay €150 million but that he hoped no one would approach Torino with that kind of money.
“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,” Cairo told Sky Sport Italia, according to Football Italia. “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.”
“I don’t think we can raise the clause now, as we only just signed the contract. Of course, if I was negotiating it today, it should be €150m.”
If Belotti keeps up his form Cairo may not get his wish as there is no doubt several clubs have already been tracking the youngster and will be interested in signing him this summer. Belotti has quickly become recognised as one of the best young strikers on the planet at 23 and it is no surprise that Cairo is demanding such a huge fee for the Italian international
This season, Belotti has picked up an impressive 24 goals and 4 assists in just 27 matches for Torino across all competitions. He has also picked up 2 hat-tricks and 6 man of the match awards on the way.
Real Madrid have been heavily linked with a move for the striker over the last month as they continue to look for young players who can build a part of Zinedine Zidane’s side as he looks to dominate the La Liga and Europe for years to come.
Karim Benzema has been linked with moves away from the club and despite his heroics over the weekend the Frenchman has been enduring a torrid time at the hands of Real Madrid’s fans, who have booed him regularly over the last couple of months.
Manchester United have also been linked with a move for the striker this summer. Wayne Rooney is set to leave at the end of the season and despite having Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford – both of whom prefer a central role but have been used on the wing – Mourinho is on the lookout for a striker.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic could well stay for another season but the Swede’s time at United is also going to be a short one and United could choose to move for Belotti early in order to beat their rivals to the Italian international.
Bayern Munich are also said to be interested in signing the 23-year old, which comes as no surprise as they have been looking to sign young, talented players over the last few years as evidenced by their moves for Thiago, Renato Sanches and Kingsley Coman.
All three clubs would have no problem meeting Torino’s demands given their huge financial power but it remains to be seen if any of them will choose to sign him this summer or watch him for another season to see if he continues to progress.