Italian supporters branch urge West Ham to rekindle Andrea Belotti interest and make Maxi Gomez claim

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The Italian branch of West Ham United fans are urging Manuel Pellegrini to rekindle interest in Andrea Belotti.

West Ham were said to have had a £35million bid for the Italian striker rejected in January (Football Italia).

Torino had slapped an eye-watering £88million buyout clause on Belotti’s head when they signed him from Palermo for just £5m back in 2015.

West Ham have moved on to other targets since.

Striker crossroads for West Ham

Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez is said to be the man Pellegrini wants.

That deal is looking less likely by the day, though, with the Uruguayan now tipped to join Valencia (Marca).

Lucas Perez and Andy Carroll have both left the club while highest-ever earner Javier Hernandez is also for sale.

Of course it is still very early days in the transfer window.

But the lack of headway in the pursuit of a striker signing so far has frustrated some impatient supporters.

Now Hammers fans from Italy have taken it on themselves to try and persuade West Ham boss Pellegrini to rekindle his interest in Belotti.

Italian fans sent direct plea to Pellegrini over Belotti

In a tweet sent to the West Ham manager on Twitter, Djtiale said: “I have been exploding twitter lately to try and get Manuel Pellegrini to consider signing him (Belotti),” said one West Ham fan on social media.

“He would solve an area that has long been problematic for us, would be a great teammate, great attitude, and finally, all at West Ham would love him for it. Would you have him over Gomez? (rhetorical question),” Djtiale said on Twitter.

“I have watched both Belotti and Gomez multiple times after we were linked to them in January. I honestly believe that Belotti is better than Gomez and would fit our team better. Can’t say enough positives about Belotti. Just hope that Pellegrini has him on the list.”

And the passionate plea was backed by West Ham’s sizeable Italian contingent Martelliditalia.

The Hammers supporter group, which has its own dedicated website, agreed adding: “He (Belotti) is better than Gomez.”

Belotti record speaks for itself

Belotti, 25, scored 17 goals in 37 games for Torino last season.

And ‘The Rooster’ as he is nicknamed, has an impressive record of 100 goals in 251 games in his career so far.

It seems West Ham could certainly do a lot worse.