If any of you readers follow the Italian Serie A, then you already who Andrea Belotti is. And if you don’t, let me show him to you.
Belotti is the latest Serie A sensation, and he might be the next big thing in Italian soccer as soon as next year. The Torino striker has been one of the most prolific forwards in the league, and he’s already been capped to the National Team as well. He has enough merits, though.
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Belotti is the current top scorer in Serie A with 22 goals in 25 appearances, edging Edin Dzeko and Mauro Icardi by two goals. And he’s not doing it for a team like Juventus, Napoli or AS Roma. No, he plays for Torino, a team sitting in the middle of the table with 39 points in 28 games. They are 10th in the standings, and chances are they won’t play in Europe next season.
Belotti, however, continues to produce. Several experts compare him to former Italy greats Christian Vieri and Luca Toni. Gennaro Gattuso, his former coach, said he reminded him of Andrei Schevchenko. However, the main difference is that he’s far more mobile. He’s more technical, more talented and offers versatility upfront. And of course he can score with the best of them, too. Here’s the proof:
No wonder he has scored nine goals in the last nine matches.
Belotti doesn’t have the partners other coveted Serie A strikers have. For instance, Gonzalo Higuain has Paulo Dybala, Miralem Pjanic and Juan Cuadrado, just to name a few. Dries Mertens has Lorenzo Insigne and Marek Hamsik. And Dzeko has Radja Nainggolan, Mohamed Salah and Stephan El Shaarawy. But Belotti has Juan Iturbe, Adem Ljajic and Iago Falque on his flanks. The first two are pretty inconsistent, and the latter is owned by AS Roma so he might not be with Torino next year either way.
It’s clear Belotti reached his cieling playing with Torino, and that he needs move elsewhere. As one would imagine, there is no shortage of suitors. Manchester United have expressed their interest in signing him at all costs, but they are going to face tough competition. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris Saint Germain asked about him as well. At this point, the only thing that’s clear is that Belotti will be using a different uniform by the time the 2017-18 season starts.
And he’s ready for the challenge.