West Ham’s attempted move for Torino striker Andrea Belotti was blocked by the club’s president Urbano Cairo.
The Hammers were interested in acquiring the services of the Italy international for £43.3million (€50million), as Manuel Pellegrini looks to add goals to his attack.
With Marko Arnautovic’s future still up in the air, it is an area of the pitch that could become even more important to strengthen in the final days of the January transfer window.
Belotti was a serious target but it has now emerged that Cairo didn’t sanction the move, putting paid to West Ham’s hopes.
Speaking to Sky Sports Italy, Torino sporting director Gianluca Petrachi said the difficulty in finding a similarly gifted replacement was the main stumbling block:
The market? It’s hard to get better players than what you have in January. It’s not easy for those who arrive to integrate, either.
Belotti? [He] wanted to leave for a team that had made an important offer money-wise, but the president decided to keep him.
Belotti has been linked with some of Europe’s top clubs in recent years, with Manchester United heavily rumoured to be planning a bid at one point.
West Ham will now have to look elsewhere, however.
