Arsenal are reportedly said to be monitoring the future of 23-year-old Italian International Andrea Belotti and are considering making a move for him during the summer
The Gunners are keeping tabs on the Torino striker and are planning a future move during the summer. Wenger is choosing to remain cautious given his £50M valuation in the market according to reports in the Sun.
The Italian international is currently enjoying a stellar season in the Seria A for Torino FC having scored 13 goals in 16 appearances and four assists already. He also has three goals in five appearances for the Azzurri despite having only made his debut in September last year. Quite a remarkable tally for a 23-year-old who is gradually stamping his authority in the top flight.
The Sun claims that Arsene has been quite impressed after having scouted him quite extensively and was seeming interested in making a January move for the striker but has been off by his high valuation and the early return of Danny Welbeck providing him with further options up front.
He has reportedly requested to be kept to be kept informed about any possible movements on Belotti despite having been put off by his valuation.
Here’ what the report says about their exclusive Italian source speaking to the Sun:
“Arsenal have an option for Belotti from Torino, and he is available for 60m Euros.
“That is to get him now before any other teams come in for him, but Arsenal will not pay that amount just yet.
“They will wait to see what happens with him this season, and think about moving for him again in the summer.”
The 23-year-old has also signed a new deal with the Turin-based club last year which apparently includes a buyout clause of €100 million (£85.5 million) for non SeriaA based clubs according to GianlucaDiMarzio.com’s David Amoyal.
Seems quite strange to have such a high buyout clause for clubs out of their league given any team wouldn’t naturally want to sell to a direct competitor.
Certainly, a player very much on the up and could become Italy’s leading striker in the years to come but his goal tally of 31 goals in two-and-a-half seasons hardly betters that of Giroud who he is most likely to replace in the squad if such a move ever came to fruition.
Also there the matter of him being able to acclimatize in the English Top flight which is quite physical and more demanding than Serie A.
There is definitely no doubt about his pedigree and breaking into the Azzurri squad which quite traditionally prefer to have experienced players among their ranks, certainly proves his mettle for standing out and having a quality to do so.
But a fee of £50M and quite possibly more may well prove to be too much to convince Wenger to shell out for a 23-year-old who has yet to become a World class player to demand that kind of a fee. Also with Manchester United and Chelsea interested and scouting the forward it will be quite interesting to see who makes a move first.
