Liverpool mad for Mario
The two clubs are understood to have agreed a £16 million (€20m) fee for the headline-grabbing former Manchester City forward.
The news emerged after Balotelli told Sky Italia that yesterday would be his last day at the club’s Milanello training ground.
A statement on Milan’s website later revealed the 24-year-old had said his farewells to team-mates.
Liverpool have not commented, although it is understood their interest in the player is firm. That represents an about-turn from three weeks ago when Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers — after being asked prior to a pre-season friendly against Milan in the US — “categorically” said Balotelli was not a target.
Should discussions advance, the possibility arises that Balotelli could become a Liverpool player before they play City in their next Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium on Monday.
AC Milan’s website reported: “Mario Balotelli left Milanello’s sporting centre at 1.30pm, after saying goodbye to his team-mates. Before leaving the premises, the striker has said goodbye to members of Milan’s press office.”
Balotelli has spent just 19 months at boyhood club Milan — a move that was supposed to both re-ignite his career and settle him down — after City grew tired of his erratic behaviour on and off the pitch.
Balotelli enjoyed a whirlwind spell at City after arriving in 2010 in a £24m (€30m) move from Internazionale.
His performances were compelling at first and full of rich potential. The Italy international played a key role in the FA Cup success of 2011 and the following year’s Premier League title win, but he also gained notoriety for numerous off-field misdemeanours.
These famously included fireworks being set off in his bathroom, throwing a dart at a youth team player and training ground bust-ups with team-mates and then manager Roberto Mancini.
He also accrued four red cards during his time with City, who decided to offload to Milan for £19m (€23.7m) in January last year.
Liverpool appear to have decided a gamble on his mercurial talents is one worth taking having been frustrated in their attempts to find a marquee striker to replace Luis Suarez.
An audacious move for Monaco’s Radamel Falcao, as suggested in some reports, may be problematic, interest in former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o appears to have cooled and a deal for QPR’s Loic Remy collapsed.
At present, new signing Rickie Lambert is the only frontline support for Daniel Sturridge.
Another new face, Divock Origi, has been allowed to return to Lille on loan while Fabio Borini, who had a successful spell at Sunderland last season, seems out of the picture.
Rodgers does have experience with difficult characters, of course, having coaxed the best out of Suarez before his departure for Barcelona.
Suarez’s disciplinary problems — including biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and publicly stating his desire to leave — caused headaches for Rodgers but the Uruguayan thrived on the pitch.
He was outstanding last season and the £75m (€93m) Liverpool eventually banked from Barca has funded a spending spree this summer.
Other new arrivals include Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Lazar Markovic and Dejan Lovren.
Milan president Silvio Berlusconi recently said he came close to selling Balotelli — who is under contract at the San Siro until June 2017 — to an unnamed English club before the World Cup. Balotelli scored 16 times for Milan last season and grabbed Italy’s winner against England at the World Cup.
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