According to the Express, Chelsea are set to battle with Manchester United and Real Madrid for Torino forward Andrea Belotti.
After losing out on Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United in the summer, Chelsea targeted Belotti, Alvaro Morata and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and they went with Morata, but The Blues are prepared to go back in for Belotti, however, they’ll have to bat off the European big boys if they want their man.
Real Madrid are currently in pole position to sign the 24-year-old striker as a long term replacement for Karim Benzema, but Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte are both watching the Italian front-man, who has a £89m release clause at Torino.
Torino president Urbano Cairo said this after hearing the interest:
Belotti’s an exceptional guy and loved by everyone, he’s kept his feet on the ground and he’s humble, even though he has a €100million release clause on his shoulders.
He added with:
He needs to stay calm, he said he didn’t think about it at the time of his renewal. He scored 13 goals either side of last season, with and without a clause.
I went to dinner with Florentino Perez and talked to him about the renewal of players with huge clauses. I mentioned Belotti and he didn’t know him, but I talked about shielding him with a €100million release clause. Aware of his clause, his ears perked up. If it had been for €20million, they wouldn’t have.
