Rumor: Belotti to Torino. WHYYYY???

I hate this rumor so much I refused to start a thread about it. But it appears the rumors are true. Thus the flurry of activity on the other striker rumors

It all started with an article on the 9th or 10th, to which Palermo put out a statement

Apparently its no longer a hypothetical. Sky suggesting that its done for 8m euro, and he will have a medical tomorrow.

This is the dumbest thing in the history of dumb things

Belotti is young, and as far as I know, doesn't have any real desire to leave Palermo. Torino is not a step up for him. 8m is a fraction of what he will be worth in just a year or two. Palermo are in need of another striker even before Belotti leaves, now we'll need two.

 

http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/seri...o-vicino-sara-il-nuovo-ciccio-graziani-717533

Sky is now saying Belotti passed his medical and is signed for Torino. Just waiting on an inevitable official announcement at this point.

I'd really like to see somebody from Palermo offer an explanation for this move.


He was a player who knew exactly where to be in the box, and imo is poised to really break out in the next couple of years. His next sale will be for more than double, and possibly closer to triple what this one is for. And in 3-4 years he'll start getting regular NT callups.

Life as Palermo fans means seeing your best players get sold on a regular basis. But this is not the right time to be selling Belotti.

 

Here's at least one opinion on why Belotti was sold:
http://www.forzapalermo.it/news/e-ora-beppe-vede-la-strada-del-gol.html

The upshot is he thinks that Gilardino will be a better partner for Vazquez, both in terms of style and experience.

He notes that even though he and many fans have called for Belotti to be a more regular player (29 of his 38 appearances last year were as a sub), he's now not sure that he and Vazquez would work well together, and that Belotti, seeing the writing on the wall, probably wanted to go somewhere where he would be a starter.


I haven't seen the two play together enough to know whether they would work together or not, but the second half is fair enough I guess. It just seems like a really bad idea to sell him outright. He's an extremely promising 21 year old.

 

http://torinofc.it/news/18/08/2015/belotti-al-toro_9123

Officially official now.

Here's the rumor:

Backstory: Zamparini offered Belotti a renewal deal until 2020 for 650k a year. Belotti asked for 850k. Zamparini told him he could leave.

— Enzooooo (@ViciniLo) August 18, 2015

H's apparently going to earn 800k at Torino.


Doesn't seem like a lot, but Palermo have always operated on a pretty strict wage cap of about 1m a year being the absolute max. Even at the height of his Palermo career in 2011-2012, Miccoli was only earning 1.2m


Definitely changes the story quite a bit. He was never going to get those wages in Palermo, and frankly I'm not even sure he deserves them yet.

Still a shame to lose him.

Edit:

The highest earner at #Palermo is Stefano Sorrentino on 900k. Belotti's request would've made him 2nd highest earner at the club.

— Enzooooo (@ViciniLo) August 18, 2015

 

I think the midfield is set, if anything there's too many players there already. and Cassini already fits the kid with superstar potential if the hype is correct.

Hopefully we can finish resigning Morganella, even though he's missed a lot of the summer from injury. I can't find any real update on if he's 100% yet. But as long as he's close, we can manage until he's fit. Thats a big hole in depth right now.

For me the only transfer question is do we sign Campbell, Gilardino, or both. In an ideal world I'd sign both. Based on nothing but stats, I don't think Djurdjevic is ready to replace what Belotti offered last year. Belotti played in all 38 games. Djurdjevic only had 300 minutes last season. And supposedly none of the other strikers are really Serie A ready yet.

If we only signed one though, I'd rather it be Campbell, even though arguments can be made that Gilardino is the style of player we need more.