Roma striker Andrea Belotti explained why his nickname is ‘Il Gallo’ and reflected on why he failed to move to Milan following his emergence at Torino.
The 29-year-old Italian striker spent seven years with the Granata from 2015 to 2022, before leaving to join Roma on a free transfer last summer.
In the summer of 2017, the first transfer window after his 26-goal season in Serie A, Milan were closely linked with Belotti but failed to secure his signature, something that disappointed many supporters.
Speaking to Cronache di Spogliatoio, Belotti first explained the origins of his celebration and nickname.
“I want to reveal a secret once and for all: why I am called ‘Gallo Belotti’. An absurd story. It’s the evening of September 3 2012. A friend of mine, Juri, is running his bar in Calcinate, my village. I am 18 years old and play for Albinoleffe, in Serie C. We’re regulars at that bar.
“Things are going well for him, he works a lot. Juri played football as a child and was really good, his surname is Gallo, and he was the first to celebrate in that way.
“He scored in every way, a real bomber. He would deposit the ball in the net on provincial pitches and run to celebrate mimicking the chicken.
“A ‘freak’, I thought. He had not yet been able to come and see me because of work. That evening, he called me: ‘Andrea! I managed to be free. Tomorrow at the bar my father is covering for me, I’ll come to see you’.
“I was so excited. He asked me: ‘Promise me: if you score, celebrate with the chicken in my honour’. I accepted.”
The Italian forward then revealed an amusing detail about his celebration and friend Juri.
“The match started and after only two minutes I scored. I didn’t think about it for a second, I ran under the stand and start miming the chicken like a madman. Everyone ran to hug me. Do you want to know?
“Juri was three minutes late that day. As he parked, he heard the roar of the stadium. I did that… for no one. What are you doing? You scored after two minutes… aren’t you going to do it again? Well, since that day, the chicken has never left me.”
He spoke fondly of former Italy striker Gianluca Vialli, who sadly passed away in January.
“I was in the national team. One morning, after breakfast, I arrived at the camp an hour early, thinking I wouldn’t find anyone there. Instead, there was someone running alone. An hour before the appointment, Gianluca Vialli was there.
“At that precise instant, I thought that despite all the difficulties he was going through, he was running. With the suffering he had inside, with the millions of problems he was carrying around. With his strength. Gianluca was ready to help, always.
“Yet he was the one who needed help. When you see a person give all that, you look inside yourself and feel that he is giving you a devastating strength. I am convinced that he will live inside us forever.”
The Roma striker touched on the gift that Vialli had.
“Some people have a gift, he had that of knowing how to get inside your head. I remember that he and I would spend up to five hours talking. I would stare at him, dumbfounded, watching his mouth.
“You didn’t want to miss a word he said. I want to say one thing: he was a fundamental person for me. A great person.”
Finally, Belotti recalled the summer transfer window where he seemed destined for the jump to a top club and why the move to Milan didn’t happen.
“The summer of the €100m, my name was everywhere. You could read ‘Belotti’ everywhere. I was probably advised in the wrong way at the beginning. I had the strength to let it go.
“People said it was done with Milan for €58m, that I would to go and play in the Champions League. There was talk everywhere about my value, how much Belotti was worth, what Belotti should do, what was the best option for Belotti.”