West Ham are ready to offer £35.6million for Torino attacker Andrea Belotti, according to Gazetta dello Sport journalist Nicolo Schira.
The Italian journalist claims that the Hammers are ready to offer that much for the 25-year-old forward as they want him to replace Marko Arnautovic who they have agreed to sell to Shanghai Shenhua.
Schira adds that the Hammers would be willing to give Belotti a five-year contract, as they would give a deal that would run until 2024 and be worth £3.1million-a-year.
However, the journalist adds that Torino aren’t willing to sell him.
#WestHam wants Andrea #Belotti to replace Marko #Arnautovic (sold to #ShanghaiShenhua for € 25M plus € 5M bonus): #Hammers is ready to offer € 40M to #Torino and a contract until 2024 (by €3,5M a year) for the striker, but #Cairo wouldn't want to sell him. #transfers #WHUFC
— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) July 5, 2019
“#WestHam wants Andrea #Belotti to replace Marko #Arnautovic (sold to #ShanghaiShenhua for € 25M plus € 5M bonus): #Hammers is ready to offer € 40M to #Torino and a contract until 2024 (by €3,5M a year) for the striker, but #Cairo wouldn’t want to sell him. #transfers #WHUFC,” wrote Schira via his Twitter account.
OPINION
It seems Manuel Pellegrini’s side are attempting to act fast when it comes to replacing Arnautovic and who can blame them? With the Austrian attacker appearing to be nearing an exit from the London Stadium, the Hammers need a new source of goals to arrive. After all, Arnautovic averaged a goal every 184 minutes for the Hammers in his 2018/19 campaign and was the club’s top scorer with a total of 11 goals (Source: BBC). Belotti wouldn’t be a bad replacement, but it does seem the Hammers have to dig deep into their pockets if they want him. The 25-year-old scored 17 goals in 39 appearances in his 2018/19 campaign, and averaged a very impressive 3.4 shots per game in his league outings (Source: WhoScored). Belotti would also be a formidable threat in the air when it comes to potentially leading the Hammers’ front line as he won 4.1 aerial duels per game in his latest season in Serie A, and that could be very useful. It is easy to imagine Belotti heading home corners. However as previously said, if the Hammers want the 25-year-old’s signature, they need to be willing to spend more than £35.6million.
