Why Manchester United should reject the chance to sign Andrea Belotti

As per a report from Italian publication Calciomercato (h/t Express), Manchester United have been offered a chance to sign Torino striker and captain Andrea Belotti in the summer transfer window.

The 26-year-old Belotti, having spent the majority of his youth career at UC AlbinoLeffe, moved to Palermo in 2013, initially on loan before making the move permanent a year later. Only a year after that was the Italian centre-forward snapped by Torino, where he has grown leaps and bounds.

Manchester United were interested in signing Belotti back in 2017 (h/t Express), after a sensational 2016/17 campaign, during which he scored 26 goals in the Serie A. However, they have now been offered a chance to sign the 26-year-old in the upcoming transfer window (h/t Express).

Manchester United were on a resurgent run prior to football getting suspended due to coronavirus outbreak. The Red Devils, after making a dodgy start to the season, have been on the mend in recent months.

The signing of Bruno Fernandes in January seemed to have turned things around for Manchester United, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men went on an 11-game unbeaten run in all competitions before football was suspended.

The attacking contingent had been a problem for Manchester United during the first half of the season. Marcus Rashford was in fine form but injury to the Englishman stretched Solskjaer’s options thin in the centre-forward department, given that they had allowed Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez to leave without bringing in proper replacements.

Mason Greenwood is enjoying a breakthrough campaign but is too young to be leading the line week in week out. Anthony Martial, as he has done for most of his stint at Manchester United, has blown hot and cold, although he did find good form before the season got suspended.

The January signing of Odion Ighalo, on loan from Shanghai Shenhua, has helped ease some problems for Solskjaer, with the Nigerian hitting the ground running at Old Trafford. So much so that, the Red Devils are now pondering over the possibility of signing him on a permanent deal (h/t ManUtd.com).

In Rashford and Martial, Manchester United have two excellent options to spearhead the attack, while Greenwood has done enough in his breakthrough campaign to be entrusted with more responsibilities going forward. And in his short time at United, Ighalo has shown that he can be a more than a handy backup option should his transfer be made permanent.

With all this going for United, passing up the chance to sign Belotti would prove to be a prudent move. The 26-year-old hasn’t been able to reach the same heights as the 2016/17 campaign ever since and has managed only 9 goals in 23 Serie A matches this term.

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Signing him would probably impact Greenwood’s game time and in turn, hamper the teenage forward’s development. This would be a far from ideal scenario for the Red Devils, who pride themselves on bringing up talent from the academy.

Verdict

Manchester United have Rashford and Martial as their frontline strikers, with Greenwood proving to be a capable backup. With the Red Devils looking ever so likely to make Ighalo’s transfer permanent, a move for Belotti wouldn’t be necessary.