Chelsea Ready To Pay £89m To Sign 28-Goal Hitman After Missing Out On Lukaku

Managers are now pressing ahead with their plans for the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Chelsea are ready to make their move for Andrea Belotti…

Chelsea are ready to meet Torino’s demands and pay Andrea Belotti’s £89m release clause after missing out on Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United, according to a report in the Express.

Antonio Conte is desperately trying to sign a top class striker after informing Diego Costa he has no future at the club and the Blues were initially touted as the front-runners to re-sign Lukaku.

However, the Premier League champions failed to get a deal agreed with Everton and the Belgian international completed a £75m move to United earlier this week.

After missing out on his prime target, Conte has been forced to look at alternative targets and while Chelsea have been linked with a number of different strikers over the past few days, it seems Belotti is now on his radar.

The 23-year-old has just come off the back of a superb campaign that saw him score 28 goals in just 38 games for Torino and it’s led to speculation linking him with several top European clubs.

Torino president Urbano Cairo recently revealed that Belotti won’t be sold to a rival Serie A team as the £89m clause isn’t eligible for Italian clubs but conceded the player could leave if a European side meets his valuation.

Cairo is quoted as saying by the Express:

“He has a €100m (£89m) release clause. For now no-one has come in for him. I’m glad he’s with us and I hope he can stay.

“I want to understand his intentions, I’m happy for him to stay, not least because we’ve given up interesting options which didn’t reach the €100m clause.

“They weren’t real offers, but there were contacts. I don’t want to imagine a Toro without him. Tonight I’ll have a meal with [coach Sinisa] Mihajlovic and [sporting director Gianluca] Petrachi, we’ll talk about everything and you understand we also have to think about this possibility.

“The clause is there, but we have to understand what he thinks because it’s important for a player to stay with the desire to do well. I want to talk to him, I want a confirmation.

“I don’t think it’s possible to sell in Italy, where there isn’t even the clause. Andrea is an extraordinary lad, he has undeniable qualities.”

It seems Chelsea are now ready to make their move as the Express are citing a report from the Independent that claims the Blues have set their sights on Belotti and are willing to match his £89m release clause.

If true, then Torino will be helpless to prevent him leaving and the newspaper suggests that the striker is keen on the idea of coming to the Premier League this summer.

READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but Conte will want his new striker on board asap so he can be integrated in to the squad ahead of the new season, so we could see movement with Belotti over the coming days and I think he’d be an excellent addition.