Belotti not interested in warming bench at 'big club'

[March 26, 2018]    MILAN, March 26 (Reuters) - Italy and Torino forward Andrea Belotti will only move to a bigger club if he can be sure he plays regularly.

"They tell me I should go and play in a big club which plays in the big cup competitions, but I will decide what is best for me," Belotti told state broadcaster Rai.

"I'm not interested in moving to a big club if I don't play or get stuck on the bench. If I move, it's to be a regular in the first team."

The 24-year-old attracted attention from around Europe after he scored 26 goals for Torino in Serie A last season and also became a regular for Italy.

However, Torino president Urbano Cairo insisted he did not want to sell the player and inserted a 100 million euro ($123.78 million) buyout clause into Belotti's contract, which runs until 2021.

This season has been less successful for Belotti, who has suffered two injuries, scored a modest six league goals and was part of an Italy team which failed to qualify for the World Cup.

"I don't want to see pictures of the game at San Siro again," he said, referring to the 0-0 playoff draw against Sweden in November which cost Italy a place in Russia.

"Personally, after the two injuries, I'm well, both physically and mentally. Fortunately, there are lots of games coming up so I can bounce back."

Italy play England in a friendly at Wembley on Tuesday.

($1 = 0.8079 euros) (Writing by Brian Homewood in Bern; Editing by John O'Brien)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.