Arsenal have already had one bid turned down for Andrea Belotti but now it seems as if his club could be prepared to let him leave in the summer.

• Belotti would be a great Alexis Sanchez replacement
• He has 27 goals and 6 assists this season in 33 appearances
• His release clause is €100m and Arsenal have been scouting him regularly this season

Belotti is a clinical finisher with his feet, and his head, and he works hard defensively too. He doesn’t really have any weaknesses, unless you count the number of fouls he gives away because he loves to tackle so much.

And I haven’t even mentioned his speed. Zoooooooom.

Torino boss, Sinisa Mihajlović, said recently, “It would be difficult to replace Belotti.

“I hope he stays but if he does he must have the right mentality. We all hope Belotti stays at the club and he’d like to stay as well.

“However, big offers will come sooner or later and at that point it could be hard to stay.

“Belotti is 23 and he could score 30 goals each season. Some big club could come here and offer him five, six, seven million a year for five years.

“That would make 30 million. Let’s presume he stays: what happens if he picks up an injury?

“What happens if he loses the right attitude? This is not an easy decision to make.”

 

Previously, Torino’s sporting director, Gianluca Petrachi, remained hopeful of retaining Belotti’s services.

“Belotti? The €100m clause seemed stratospheric, but now it seems low,” he said.

“For him and for us it is better if the rooster remains with us, he seems to be happy and willing to stay. He will talk with us directly.

“For him it’s been a wonderful season, it would be great for him to prove himself and go to the World Cup (in 2018) with a great fanfare, but we’ll see.

“Everything also depends on Belotti, he could say no to a farewell and our relationship with him is wonderful, but then if they offer €100m from abroad he could leave.”

It doesn’t look like Belotti will be a one-season wonder and could well go on to justify his huge price tag.

In his first season with Torino, and in the top flight after an €8.4m move from Palermo, Belotti scored 12 and assisted five in 35 Serie A games. He’s hit double figures for goals every season, bar one, since he was 18.

Will Arsenal pay that much?

They might have to. If they lose Alexis Sanchez this summer then they will have no excuse not to spend big. That could also be said even if the Chilean stays. Do Arsenal want to pay to play or are they happy just watching on from fourth place?