Manchester United’s new talisman? Not Griezmann

There is of course a huge amount of uncertainty about the summer transfer speculation.

But while the noise about Antoine Griezmann going to Manchester United continues, there has also been a surge of interest in the idea that Jose Mourinho could look to Italy instead of Spain for his next talisman.

Yesterday afternoon ESPN stated that Manchester United officials had opened talks with Italian club Torino about the prospect of signing the brilliant 23-year-old striker Andrea Belotti.

The Italian international who made his debut for his country in 2016 and scored three goals in just seven appearances for the Azzurri has been an absolute revelation in the Italian league over the last few years.

After scoring about one goal every three games for Palermo he moved to Torino for €7.5 million in 2015 and there his career exploded.

Belotti scored 12 goals in 36 appearances in his first season at the Italian outfit. But this year he’s scored 27 in just 32 games and he’s been on fire. He seems to tick all the boxes for a Jose Mourinho signing. He’s a really clever and technically good player who works hard. And he comes into his own in front of goal where he is absolutely ruthless.

TFF has reservations about whether he is worth the valuation of his release clause even in the current market. But at 23 he does have another few contracts left in him so he would have a big sell on value if Manchester United decided to cash in or a club like Real Madrid tried to prise him away.

Manchester United fans: would you take him over Antoine Griezmann at this point?