Andrea Belotti

Andrea Belotti (born 20 December 1993) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Fiorentina, on loan from Roma.

He also plays for the Italy national team.

Belotti started his career with AlbinoLeffe.

The following month, he became the first player under the age of 24 to score 24 goals in a single Serie A season since Shevchenko in 1999–00.

He ended the season with 26 goals in 35 appearances, and as the third top-scorer in the league behind Edin Džeko of Roma (29) and Dries Mertens of Napoli (28).

On 13 December, he scored the winning goal in injury time against Sassuolo, securing a 2–1 win for Palermo and their seventh consecutive useful result (equalling the record of the 2009–10 season under the coach Delio Rossi).

He played in 38 games throughout the season, largely as a substitute, in which he scored six goals.

He made his debut for the first team in the 2011–12 season, when he played eight matches in Serie B and scored two goals.

He also scored 13 goals as team top-scorer for the youth team throughout the 2011–12 season, winning a youth title, the Trofeo Dossena, in June 2012.

The following season, he was fully promoted to the first team, and made 31 appearances in Lega Pro Prima Divisione, scoring 12 goals.

He also made an appearance during the 2012–13 Coppa Italia.

Given the presence in the squad of the defender Mauro Belotti, Andrea was nicknamed Belottino.

He was later signed by Palermo, where he won a Serie B title in the 2013–14 season, before being joining Torino in 2015.

Belotti left the club in 2022 as their eighth-highest goalscorer of all time, and joined Roma on a free transfer.

On 2 September 2013, he was loaned for a fee of €500,000 (with a buyout clause set at €2.5 million) to Palermo in Serie B.

He made his debut with the Sicilians on 24 September 2013, as a substitute for Davide Di Gennaro in a game against Bari, and provided an assist to Kyle Lafferty in a 2–1 loss.

He scored his first goal for the Rosaneri on 5 October against Brescia.

On 3 May 2014, he was promoted to Serie A after a 1–0 win away to Novara.

He closed the season with 10 goals scored in the league.

On 18 June 2014, Palermo exercised the right to redeem half of his contract in co-ownership, with an option to redeem the other half for €3.5 million.

He made his debut in Serie A on 31 August 2014, at age 20, as a substitute for Paulo Dybala in a 1–1 draw at home to Sampdoria.

On 12 September, Palermo announced they had redeemed the remainder of his contract.

On 24 September, he scored his first two career goals in Serie A, playing as a starter in a 3–3 draw away to Napoli.

A former Italy under-19, under-20 and under-21 international, Belotti took part in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2015.

On 18 August 2015, he was officially signed by Torino for a reported fee of €7.5 million.

He scored his first goal for Torino in a 2–0 win against Bologna.

He concluded the 2015–16 season with 12 goals in 35 appearances.

He was given his senior national team debut in 2016 and was included in the Italy squad that won UEFA Euro 2020.

Andrea Belotti was born in Calcinate, a small town in close vicinity of Bergamo in northern Italy.

He is nicknamed Il Gallo (The Rooster).

The nickname comes from the surname of his close childhood friend, who jokingly suggested he celebrates his goals by mimicking a rooster's comb with an open hand to his forehead.

Belotti was a childhood fan of AC Milan.

He took his first steps as a footballer in the oratory school of Gorlago, and with Grumellese.

After an unsuccessful trial with Atalanta, he was signed by AlbinoLeffe and went through their youth system.

On 16 January 2016, he scored his first brace for the club in a 4–2 win over Frosinone.

On 20 March, he scored from the penalty spot in the 48th minute to halt Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon's record of longest consecutive minutes not conceded in a 4–1 home defeat.

He began the 2016–17 season scoring a header against AC Milan at the San Siro, but had a penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma in a 3–2 defeat.

The following round, on 28 August, he scored his first career hat-trick in a 5–1 home win against Bologna.

On 4 December 2016, he extended his contract with Torino until 2021, with a €100 million release clause valid only to foreign clubs.

On 5 March 2017, he wore the captain's armband for the first time against Palermo, in which he scored the fastest hat-trick in Serie A since 30 January 2000 (seven minutes and 15 seconds), surpassing the previous record belonging to the Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko.