Gianluca Petrachi reveals behind the scenes of the much rumored transfer of Andrea Belotti to AC Milan.
The name of Italian centre forward Andrea Belotti has been linked with a potential move to AC Milan for a very long time. Nevertheless, a transfer did not materialize even when Belotti became a free agent. The 28-year-old joined Jose Mourinho’s Roma squad this summer on a free transfer.
However, in the summer of 2018 Andrea Belotti was practically an AC Milan player. Former Torino sporting director, Gianluca Petrachi, has revealed that everything was completed for the transfer of Belotti to Milan but president Urbano Cairo decided to back out of the deal at the very last moment.
“In the summer of 2018 we set up a sensational operation. I had sold Belotti to Milan for 55 million plus 3 in bonuses, it was practically all done. Instead of him I had already blocked to sign Duvan Zapata from Sampdoria, the player had accepted and we were just waiting for it to come full circle. But then the big boss (president Cairo) took a step back and didn’t give the go-ahead“.
Andrea Belotti had agreed a long-term contract with the Rossoneri of around 4 million per season. During that time the club was under the management of former president Yonghong Li. Marco Fassone and Massimiliano Mirabelli took care of the transfer business.
After failing to land the Italian striker, AC Milan signed Gonzalo Higuain on loan from Juventus. Higuain’s adventure at San Siro was a very short one with the Argentine forward departing after only six-months to join Chelsea. He was eventually replaced with Krzysztof Piatek.
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