With Leonardo Bonucci suspended against Chievo, Gab Marcotti answers whether or not Milan were better without him.
Torino president Urbano Cairo does not expect to lose Andrea Belotti next summer as the Italian forward struggles to find the same form that valued him at €100 million last year.
AC Milan tried to convince Torino to sell in July, but Cairo stood firm and demanded €100 million -- the price of a release clause valid only to foreign clubs in Belotti's contract -- with the Rossoneri instead signing Nikola Kalinic from Fiorentina.
Belotti, who scored 26 goals in Serie A last season, has found the back of the net just three times this term and Cairo now expects him to stay on for a further year.
Andrea Belotti was the third highest scorer in Serie A last season.
"No, no, I really don't think so," Cairo said in La Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if Belotti could be sold next summer, despite AC Milan's sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli confirming in October that they were still interested in his signature.
"He's our player and he's very important for us. He's not yet at 100 percent and I still expect a lot to come from him. As soon as he starts scoring again, the floodgates will open."
After Torino's 0-0 draw with AC Milan on Sunday, Belotti and Leonardo Bonucci went over to the Milan defender's family in the crowd and the Torino forward gave his shirt to Bonucci's son Lorenzo.
Even while Bonucci played for Juventus between 2010 and 2017, his son was a staunch supporter of city rivals Torino and the Italy international has taken him to see them in action, when he was not playing for either Juve or Milan.
In a video published by La Stampa, Bonucci's wife Martina Maccari is seen giving Belotti Lorenzo's Torino scarf in return.
ESSERI UMANI. ????
A post shared by Martina Maccari (@martinazoev) on Nov 26, 2017 at 4:40pm PST
Martina posted a picture of Belotti kissing Lorenzo on Instagram, accompanied by the words "being human."
Ben Gladwell reports on Serie A, the Italian national team and the Bundesliga for ESPN FC, UEFA and the Press Association. @UEFAcomBenG.
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Source: espn.co.uk