It’s looking less and less likely that Mario Balotelli will be signed permanently by AC Milan, with CEO Adriano Galliani claiming he simply isn’t playing well enough to warrant the Italians spending money on him.
The forward was dreadful during his stint on Merseyside, and was shipped to Milan as a result last summer on a season long loan deal.
Having only scored one Serie A goal and been criticised for a lack of effort by supporters and management, Milan’s chief suggested it unlikely the club would try and buy him.
“Mario is feeling well,” Galliani told reporters, reported in Goal. “He is desperate to stay here at Milan.
“But like I have said before, he does not merit a permanent deal at the moment.
“We really like Mario, but he has to convince us to earn a permanent deal.”
Balotelli is behind the likes of Luiz Adriano and Carlos Bacca in the pecking order, and is nowhere near Italy’s Euro 2016 squad. It’s a sign of how far his stock has fallen, that four years ago at Euro 2012 he was Italy’s main man, scoring a wonderful brace versus Germany in the semi-final.
The Express reported at the end of March that Chinese clubs had already started conversations with Balotelli’s representatives regarding a summer move, which would suit Liverpool perfectly. We’d get him off our books and likely recoup most of the £16m we spent on him – if the £11.8m fee in their report is to be believed.
No European club will pay Balotelli’s £100k+/week wage demands, so if he wants to continue earning that kind of money, a switch to the Far East could benefit him.