Balotelli poised to leave for Milan

Manchester: Mario Balotelli’s Manchester City future could be decided this week, with talks expected to have taken place between the champions and Milan on Monday. City are said to want £31m (Dh180 million) for the striker but the fee may end up nearer to the £24m he cost them from Internazionale in the summer of 2010.

Adriano Galliani, the Milan vice-president, has told Gazzetta dello Sport: “At the end of Friday, Manchester City still said €37m [Dh180 million]. We will see on Monday. Under these conditions, he will remain at Manchester City.”

While neither City nor the Balotelli camp would comment on the claim, Galliani’s statement can be considered a bargaining move as the transfer window enters its final few days. If the clubs fail to agree a price, there is an outside chance of a loan move which would see the striker at San Siro for the remainder of the season.

Previously, the 22-year-old had wanted to stay at City due to respect for Roberto Mancini, the manager, and his continued support, though there is now a recognition that a departure may be the only way for Balotelli to try and rebuild his career.

His time at the club has been troubled, with a catalogue of on- and off-field misdemeanours blighting progress. Mancini eventually became isolated in his support of a compatriot who was an asset in Italy’s Euro 2012 campaign, where they reached the final.

Balotelli’s commitment has also been questionable, with Mancini being forced to stand him down from the match-day squad at least twice due to problems with his attitude in training. There have been only seven starts in the Premier League and one goal — in a 2-0 win at Wigan in November — and last month Balotelli came close to taking City to a tribunal after refusing to accept a two-week fine for the ill-discipline that meant he missed 11 games due to suspension last term.

The striker only called off the tribunal on the morning and finally accepted the £340,000 fine. But a fortnight later he was pictured grappling with Mancini on the training ground after the manager tried to censure him for a dangerous tackle on Scott Sinclair.

With ongoing concern regarding who he surrounds himself with in his private life, this was the act that finally caused Mancini to accept he should be moved on. Meanwhile, City’s assistant manager David Platt said the Premier League title race is far from over after watching his side beat Fulham on Saturday. David Silva scored twice to make sure City did what they have to and maintain the pressure on Manchester United. As Platt said, the title is Sir Alex Ferguson’s men “to lose”.

“It’s not over, we can make it up, it’s not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination,” Platt said. “But equally, it’s theirs to lose.”

As a player Platt was at Arsenal when they overhauled a 13-point margin to beat United to the title in 1998. What kind of character does it take to do so?

“It’s slightly different in the fact that back then, I think we lost three out of four games around Christmas time and we didn’t go into games after that thinking, ‘What we’ve got to do to win the league is win the next 13 games or something’.

“It just happens and it’s probably about six games before the end before you think you’ve got a sniff of a chance. Every season is different and people like to have headlines like, ‘we’re coming to get you’, ‘we’re doing this’, ‘we’re doing that’. But the fact of the matter is they’re clear at this moment in time.”

Is it easier to chase? “No it’s not because you’ve still got to go out and win your matches.”