Red mist ... Mario Balotelli has seen a few of these in his time at Manchester City. Source: AAP
Mario Balotelli's chequered career at Manchester City is set to come to an end, with the English champions agreeing to sell the temperamental Italian to AC Milan for a reported $A26 million.
"Mario Balotelli to Milan, the player will come tomorrow for his medical and sign his contract,'' the in-house Milan Channel has announced.
City paid Inter Milan £22 million ($A33 million) for the striker in August 2010, but his time at the club has been peppered with controversy both on and off the pitch.
The fee is significantly lower than the money initially demanded by City.
Balotelli, 22, will sign a four-and-a-half-year contract, keeping him with Milan until 2017.
The striker, who scored three times for Italy on their run to the final of Euro 2012, returns to his home country in a bid to relaunch a career that has gradually lost momentum this season.
He has scored just once in 14 Barclays Premier League appearances this season, as well as once in the League Cup and once in the UEFA Champions League.
As recently as last Friday, City manager Roberto Mancini had insisted that Balotelli would not be leaving England in January.
"For two years it's always the question. It's not true. Mario's staying here. We haven't had any requests about Mario or any other player,'' Mancini said.
"Mario has another three years on his contract.
"We don't have enough players, we are 18 players now and we can't sell any players.''
But now Balotelli is set to depart after a two-and-a-half-year spell at City that will be better remembered for a plague of controversial incidents.
At the beginning of January, he was pictured apparently having a bust-up with Mancini during a training session, while in December he tried to take his club to court to contest their decision to fine him for his poor disciplinary record last season before eventually dropping his appeal.
Balotelli was also caught up in numerous off-field incidents, including having to escape from his own house in October 2011 after starting a fire caused by letting off fireworks in his bathroom.
No comments:
Post a Comment