- Chelsea have been among the clubs targeting Torino striker Andrea Belotti
- The Italy international has an £89million release clause with the Serie A club
- Torino’s president has revealed interest from Real Madrid
- READ MORE: Attention, Antonio Conte: Chelsea legend tells Blues what they must do to save their season
Chelsea have reportedly been dealt a blow to their plans to seal the transfer of £89million Torino striker Andrea Belotti, with Real Madrid also interested.
The Sun claim the Blues were in for Belotti over the summer, though they failed in their efforts to bring him in and ended up landing Alvaro Morata instead.
Still, Antonio Conte’s side arguably look a little light up front due to relying on Morata and the manager seemingly not trusting backup front-man Michy Batshuayi, whose playing time has been limited.
It remains to be seen if Chelsea will come back in for Belotti, but their chances of bringing in the Italy international may have been dealt a blow as club president Urbano Cairo reveals interest from Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez.
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‘I was eating dinner with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and we were talking about contracts of players with huge release clauses and I mentioned Belotti,’ he was quoted in the Sun.
‘As soon as he heard of the clause for Belotti, who he didn’t know, it pricked his ears. If the clause had only been €20m, he wouldn’t have been interested.’
Madrid could do with attacking reinforcements in the future, with Don Balon today claiming Perez is lining up three big-name attackers as long-term replacements for the ‘BBC’ front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
That report claims Neymar, Harry Kane and Paulo Dybala are Real’s main targets up front.
This follows speculation from AS that Ronaldo is unhappy at the Bernabeu and looking to leave next season.