Torino president Urbano Cairo has expressed his delight at keeping hold of Italy international striker Andrea Belotti, who was heavily linked with a move away from the club in the summer, to clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester United.
Belotti has a €100m buyout clause in his contract applicable to clubs outside Italy and it led to him being linked with a move to some of the top European outfits during the recently concluded window.
He was believed to be on Manchester United’s shortlist of targets before they signed Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea and Monaco were also heavily linked with a move for the striker.
But Belotti remained at Torino and Cairo is pleased to hold on to one of the best strikers in the world after a summer of heavy speculation over his future at the club.
The Torino supremo admits that he was prepared to lose Belotti if a club were willing to pay his release clause, but is confident about the player’s commitment towards Il Toro.
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“He is one of the best strikers of the last 20 to 40 years”, Cairo told Rai Sport when asked about the speculation surrounding the striker in the summer.
“If a foreign club were willing to pay his buyout clause I would have sold him, but I am very happy that he remained with us.
“It was a distraction for the players, but he played sensationally against Sassuolo and Belotti remains very passionate about wearing our colours.”
Other than last season’s 28 goals in all competitions, Belotti has already netted three in three appearances in the current campaign.
