By Dave Marshall
Torino striker Andrea Belotti is wanted by Jose Mourinho, who has increasingly grown frustrated with the stalling of the Alvaro Morata deal and is keen on a striker before the tour to the USA at the start of next month.
According to Tuttomercatoweb (via Calciomercato), the Red Devils have had a mammoth £62m bid for the striker rejected by Torino, who are holding out for every penny of his £88m release clause. The 20-time English champions were reportedly close to signing Spanish international, Morata but Real Madrid’s reluctance to let him go for ‘cheap’ is threatening to derail the deal.
Madrid want a fee close to €80 million, but United are only willing to pay up to €60 million.
In the case of Belotti, there are still reservations about whether he can cut it on the big stage on the big European nights, a feat Morata has managed time and time again even in his relatively short career till date. United finished sixth on the Premier League last season, but qualified for the 2017/18 Champions League by virtue of winning the Europa League but our efforts in getting a big name striker has been met with brick walls all summer. We are looking to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose contract was not renewed after suffering a nasty leg break back in April.
Belotti is a two-footed, fast, gifted and technical player who has been compared to Christian Vieri for his opportunistic nature in front of goal. He scored 28 times and assisted a further 8 in 38 matches in all competitions for Sinisa Mijhalovic’s men, and would be a great addition to the United frontline desperately lacking bite and that extra bit of aggression that will make opposition players cower in fear.
