Belotti joins Benfica!

The 31-year-old striker Belotti has joined Sport Lisboa e Benfica's professional football team. The Italian international joins the club on loan from Como 1907, valid until the end of the season. He's the Eagles' new No. 19!

Once the deal had been made official, in his first statements as a Glorioso player, in an exclusive interview with the club's official television channel, the 31-year-old Italian international was happy and, despite his experience and maturity, sees this new step as an important challenge in his career.

"I'm looking forward to a great end to the season. There are lots of games, trophies to bring home. I hope to have a great year, one that I'll remember in the best way one day," he wished.

THE CAREER

Born in the region of Lombardy, more specifically in Calcinate, on December 20, 1993, Italian Andrea Belotti took his first steps in the world of football (and goals) at the Bergamo club AlbinoLeffe, where he completed his formative years, making his debut in the Primavera team and then in professional football in Serie B. Against Livorno, the now Benfica new signing came on in the 2nd half and scored 1 goal in the 83rd minute - that was on March 10, 2012, when he was 18 years old.

In the 2011/12 season he played in 7 more games for AlbinoLeffe, in which he scored once more. The following season (2012/13), in Serie C of Italian football, Belotti won his place in the team and scored 12 times.

The start of 2013/14 marked his move to Palermo, and he left Leffe with a record of 14 goals. At the Sicilian side, which was hoping to reach Serie A, which in the end came to fruition with the Serie B title, Belotti contributed 10 goals to the team's success.

For the first time at the top level of transalpine football in 2014/15, the striker was an option in all 38 league games and scored 6 goals, including a brace against Napoli.

He started 2015/16 at Palermo, but ended up moving to Torino, leaving the Sicilians with 16 goals (divided between Serie A and Serie B).

In Turin, season after season, Belotti became one of the Granata's most influential players, to the extent that in his 7 years at Torino he was the team's top scorer in 6 of them.

From 2015/16 to 2021/22 we should highlight his 28 goals in 2016/17, 26 of which came in Serie A, which earned him bronze among the league's top scorers; and his 22 goals in 2019/20, with a focus on the 6 he scored in the same number of games Torino played in qualifying for the Europa League.

A goalscorer in Turin, and an international for the Italian U-19, U-20 and U-21 teams, 2016 (September 1) saw the first of more than 40 international caps for the Squadra Azzurra, in a preparation match against France.

With the Italian national team - for which he scored 12 goals - Belotti experienced one of the highest points of his career when he was part of the squad that won the 2020 European Championship (due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held in 2021). An option in 6 of the 7 matches at the European Championship, in the final against England the striker came on in extra time, watching from the pitch as Italy won the penalty shootout.

After 113 goals in 251 games, figures that elevated him to one of the great names in Torino's history, Belotti signed for Roma in 2022/23. The Italian international spent a season and a half in the capital, scoring 10 goals in 68 games.

In January 2024 he moved on loan to Fiorentina. After a loan spell with the Viola (4 goals in 24 games), last summer he signed for Como 1907, where in the first half of this season he scored 2 goals in 19 games.