Torino Sporting Director Davide Vagnati has admitted that his club did hold talks with Tottenham Hotspur during the transfer window over Andrea Belotti only to decide that the striker was too important to sell.
A back up for Harry Kane was understandably one of Tottenham’s priorities heading into the transfer window and Belotti (La Stampa) was one of several names the North Londoners were linked with.
Gianluca Di Marzio even claimed a few weeks ago that the Lilywhites had an offer of around €50million (£46.3m) rejected by Torino for the forward.
Spurs eventually ended up signing Carlos Vinicius from Benfica on a season long loan, and Jose Mourinho is said to be extremely pleased with the Brazilian’s capture due to the fact that he was his number one strike target (Athletic).
Vagnati has now confirmed that Tottenham indeed did make an approach for the 26-year-old but hinted that the Serie A club had no desire of letting their club captain leave.
When asked about the Italian international, he told Sky Sport Italia (as relayed by Football Italia): “I’d love to see Belotti stay at Torino for the rest of his career.
“He has values that are crucial for being the captain of Torino. We had a chat with Tottenham but Belotti is too important for us.”
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While multiple reports have asserted that Vinicius was Mourinho’s number one target, I suspect the Spurs boss would have preferred Belotti if the club had realistic hopes of pulling the deal off. In the end, it looks like it was Torino’s asking price that put them off, with Benfica being knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers also perhaps playing a role in Vinicius’ becoming a cheaper option.
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