What’s the story?
Chelsea are set to face disappointment in their pursuit of Everton striker Romelu Lukaku with the Belgian forward reportedly on his way to rivals Manchester United. However, the Blues have been swift to identify an alternative to Lukaku according to Mediaset’s Premium Sport (via Metro), who claim that the Blues manager Antonio Conte has now made signing Torino striker Andrea Belotti his #1 priority for the transfer window.
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The 23-year-old Italian has a £87.6 million (€100 million) release clause in his contract and the Turin outfit have maintained that they will only allow their prized asset to leave if a club triggers his release clause.
In case you didn’t know…
Ever since the culmination of the 2016/17 season, the Stamford Bridge outfit have been heavily linked with a move for former striker Romelu Lukaku but earlier in the day, many English outlets, including the BBC and the Press Association all but confirmed that the Belgian is on his way to Old Trafford after Manchester United agreed a fee in the region of £75 million with the Goodison Park outfit for the services of the 24-year-old.
The news came as a shock to many as Chelsea were front-runners for the services of their former striker and Manchester United were heavily linked with a move for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata.
The heart of the matter
With Chelsea seemingly beaten by Manchester United to the signing of Romelu Lukaku, the Blues had to look elsewhere and reassess their priorities. The Stamford Bridge outfit are also close to sanctioning the sale of current first-choice striker Diego Costa to Atlletico Madrid – the club from which he arrived at the London outfit 3 years ago. Costa had fallen out with the current Blues manager Antonio Conte and the Italian had apparently texted the striker during the season break that he no longer features in his plans.
Conte has now switched his focus from Lukaku to Belotti, who he feels is the perfect candidate to lead his line for seasons to come, the Blues will have to smash their transfer record for the capture of the Italian and they will probably end up paying more than what Manchester United are reportedly paying for the services of Lukaku. The report also adds that should the Blues fail in their pursuit of Belotti, they have already identified Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata as their back-up plan but will have to shell out in the range of £79 million for his services.
Also Read: Reports: Chelsea set to announce superstar's departure to Spanish giants
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Author's Take
The transfer market is an unforgiving beast and if Manchester United do end up signing Lukaku ahead of Chelsea, then the Blues have no other options but to look at alternatives and they have done a good job in identifying Andrea Belotti as the man to lead them to titles in the future.
The 23-year-old has just enjoyed his best season with Torino and has all the qualities to excel in the Premier League.
