Mario Balotelli: AC Milan and Juventus in Manchester City talks

 

Manchester City have held talks with AC Milan and Juventus about the sale of striker Mario Balotelli, but will only let him go if the Serie A clubs meet their valuation.

City value the Italian, 22, at around 24m euros (£21m) including add-ons.

Balotelli is not actively up for sale and City will not subsidise any of his salary should he leave the club.

Contrary to reports, Balotelli is with the squad that travelled to London for Tuesday's meeting with QPR.

Milan initiated talks with City over the Italy striker, and Juve subsequently made contact with the Premier League club to discuss buying Balotelli, who arrived in Manchester from Inter Milan in August 2010 for a fee in the region of £24m.

Mancini on Mario

  • 30 March 2012: "No, I don't trust Mario. No-one trusts Mario."
  • 6 April: "I told him, if you played with me 10 years ago I would give you every day maybe one punch in your head. If Mario is not one of the best players in the world it will be his fault, because he has everything."
  • 27 April: "It's like a family when a child does stupid things. The affection of the parents is still there. He's young and he commits big mistakes that can put the team in difficulty."
  • 20 November: "He has everything to be one of the best players in the world. He could be like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi if he understands that to be like this you should work hard. Sometimes he doesn't understand how his job is important for his life but I hope he can understand this quickly."

Earlier on Monday, City assistant manager David Platt had said Balotelli would not be moving to AC Milan this month.

"I don't think anything is going to happen," said Platt of a proposed January move.

"It's a shame the manager's not here. He might know more than me but as far as we are concerned I think he is still a Manchester City player.

And City manager Roberto Mancini had also insisted on Friday that the Italian, regularly linked with a return to Italy since he arrived in England in 2010, would not leave the club.

"It is not true. Mario stays. We didn't have any requests about Mario or other players," said Mancini.

The Italian also said it would be "difficult" to buy new players with so little time left in the transfer window.

"I don't know [if City will buy anyone] but we don't have enough players," he added. "We are 18 players now. We can't sell any players."

Balotelli - who has scored one league goal in 14 appearances this term - has courted controversy throughout his time in England, with the latest incident involving a training ground row with Mancini at the start of January.

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani had stated that if City were to lower their valuation then a move could be on,  but Mancini insisted the Italy international remained part of his long-term plans.

"Mario has another three years on his contract," he said.