Manchester United and Arsenal won't have to pay a single penny to sign him.
Manchester United and Arsenal have previously been linked with Andrea Belotti
Manchester United and Arsenal have previously been linked with Andrea Belotti (Image: Getty)
At the height of his career, Italy international Andrea Belotti was amongst the globe's most sought-after forwards. These days, the former Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea target is available on a free transfer. He was a comparatively late developer, only making his Serie A bow at 20 with Palermo.
Belotti left for Torino in 2015, and it was there that he established his reputation. He scored a career-high 26 league goals in 2016/17, narrowly losing out on the Capocannoniere award to Edin Dzeko. The forward signed a contract extension halfway through that campaign, with Torino inserting a €100m (£87m) release clause.
That clause was exclusively applicable to clubs outside Italy. Nevertheless, club president Urbano Cairo publicly acknowledged his concerns that it might prove insufficient to ward off Premier League interest, as United, Arsenal and Chelsea, amongst others, were circling.
"When I included a €100million release clause in Belotti's contract, somebody thought it was an excessive fee, now they think it's not enough," Cairo told Tuttosport in 2017.
"I think nobody will come here to trigger his release clause and it would be better for him to stay for one more season at Torino.
"I've read he's happy here and I'll need to talk to him. He can still improve, play one more season for us, play the [2018] World Cup and then we'll see."
Belotti scored four times during World Cup qualifying but failed to find the net as the Azzurri suffered a play-off defeat to Sweden, missing out on the tournament entirely.
Torino needn't have worried about any club triggering his release clause, however, with the striker himself admitting he wasn't deserving of such a valuation.
The former Torino marksman is currently available on a free transfer
The former Torino marksman is currently available on a free transfer (Image: Getty)
"To be honest, no [I don't feel I am worth it]," Belotti told Mediaset in April 2017. "But given the way the transfer market has developed, increasingly ridiculous sums are being spent. The cost of players has gone up far too much."
Yet his determination remained unshaken. He reached double figures in each of his first six Torino campaigns and featured in the Italy squad that triumphed at Euro 2020.
Upon departing the club in 2022, he did so having accumulated precisely 100 league goals to his name.
Life has proved considerably harder in the intervening years. He failed to register a single league goal during his debut season at Roma and has managed just 22 goals across more than 140 appearances in all competitions for four separate clubs across Italy and Portugal.
Now 32, he spent last season at Cagliari but was restricted to eight outings following a serious knee injury. Italian reports suggested he was set to return to the Sardinian club, only to fall at the final hurdle after failing a medical.
His international career is firmly consigned to history, with no caps since June 2022. That £87m release clause now feels like a lifetime ago.