Andrea Belotti, Torino’s once coveted star centre-forward, has produced a rare moment of fair play in the game of football.
Belotti’s breakout campaign in Turin came in 2016/17, where he netted 26 goals in 35 appearances. At the time, compatriot Antonio Conte was in charge of the Blues, which was the perfect combination for speculation to run wild.
As reported by the Independent at the time, Chelsea were leading the race to sign him, with Manchester United also thought to be keen, but his €100M release clause was not met and as a result he remained with the Serie A side.
Belotti, now 27-years-old, remains with Torino, for whom he has netted 10 times in 20 games this term, with one of those coming in today’s 3-3 draw with Atalanta.
That was not Belotti’s most noteworthy moment of the match, though. That came when the striker was awarded a free-kick under challenge from an Atalanta player.
The Italian immediately turned to the referee and wagged his finger, indicating that he hadn’t been fouled. After conversation with the referee and the Atalanta players, he returned the ball to them instead of attempting to score from the free-kick.
You don’t oftentimes see honesty like this in the modern game, so fair play to you, Andrea Belotti!
Pictures courtesy of footballua.tv
Considering Chelsea ended up signing Alvaro Morata, who failed to deliver, and eventually acquired Timo Werner, who too is falling short, perhaps Marina Granovskaia will be wishing she paid up for Belotti.
At least they’d have a nice guy within the ranks…