Arsenal

Man Utd Step Up Interest In Signing Prolific £84m Arsenal & Liverpool Target

Manchester United have stepped-up their interest in signing £84m-rated Arsenal and Liverpool target Andrea Belotti this summer, according to reports

by
Fraser Crawford
February 14, 2017

The January transfer window is now closed but we can still look at deals that failed to get across the line and those being lined-up for the summer. Today, more on the future of Andrea Belotti….

Manchester United have stepped-up their interest in signing £84m-rated Arsenal and Liverpool target Andrea Belotti this summer, according to the Daily Star.

Belotti has developed in to one of the hottest strikers in European football after scoring 19 goals in 24 games in all competitions for Torino this season.

His impressive form has led to interest from the Premier League with Torino’s sporting director Gianluca Petrachi quoted by Sky Sports News as saying last month that they had rejected a €65m (£56m) offer from Arsenal.

The Italians insisted that Belotti wouldn’t be sold for anything less than his buyout fee, which currently stands at a whopping £84m, but that hasn’t stopped the Express from reporting that Liverpool are also understood to be keeping a close eye on the striker.

Both Arsenal and Liverpool are seemingly in the market for another forward with Arsene Wenger drawing up a list of potential replacements for Alexis Sanchez while Jurgen Klopp needs to find a prolific hitman amid on-going doubts over the future of Daniel Sturridge.

However, it looks as though the race for Belotti’s signature is hotting up as the Daily Star claim today that Manchester United have now stepped-up their scouting of the Italian international ahead of a potential summer swoop.

Jose Mourinho is also expected to bring in a new striker at the end of the season as United need a long-term replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and it looks as though Belotti’s is on the Portuguese coaches radar.

While Arsenal and Liverpool would struggle to meet the 23-year-old’s buyout fee, United are one of the few clubs in world football who’re capable of paying that kind of money so they would be well positioned to land Belotti if they decide to make a formal move.

However, it appears our English giants will also face competition from abroad as the Daily Star claim that Real Madrid are set to hold talks with Torino this week and are prepared to match his buyout clause.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming months but I personally think any club would be mad to pay £84m for a striker who’s only really had one good season in Italian football so the likes of Arsenal, United and Liverpool would be better off looking elsewhere in their striker pursuit.