Super Mario? (left) City set to top £100m mark
after £23m deal for Balotelli
Manchester City were last night confident of clinching
the signing of Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli as their summer
spending rocketed towards the £100million mark.
City believe they have struck a £23m deal for the volatile
19-year-old, who is set to be reunited with his former Inter coach
Roberto Mancini at Eastlands.
The club are banking on the City boss being able to tame
Balotelli, the bad boy of Italian football who has attracted as
many headlines for his behaviour off the pitch as on it since
Mancini left the San Siro two years ago.
Balotelli fell out with Mancini's successor, Jose
Mourinho, and new Inter coach Rafael Benitez appeared resigned to
losing the Italy Under 21 striker when he was asked about his
future on Tuesday.
'The club decide the transfers I adapt,' said Benitez, who has
faced speculation over Balotelli's future from the moment he took
over six weeks ago.
'Do I fear being remembered in a few years as the coach who let
Balotelli go? I repeat: I do not control the market. One player
doesn't make a team and Inter have many strong players.'
Inter were demanding £34m for a teenager who made his first-team
debut under Mancini only two and- a-half years ago and rejected
City's opening offer of £20m. But they look set to accept a reduced
fee with the remainder payable in performance-related
instalments.
If they succeed in landing Balotelli, it will take City's outlay
in the summer transfer window to £83m. With Lazio defender
Alexander Kolarov expected to follow shortly for another £17m, it
means the Premi er League club' s spending could hit £100m before
the end of July.
It remains to be seen whether City will now call off the chase
for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko or give up hope of signing their
No 1 target Fernando Torres, but the club's owners from Abu Dhabi
are showing no signs of letting up in their relentless pursuit of
success.
Even so, Balotelli represents the biggest gamble of the summer
for a club who have already signed Yaya Toure, David Silva and
Jerome Boateng.
Old pals' act: Balotelli and Mancini in their time at
Inter
Mancini enjoyed a special relationship with the
youngster as he rose through the ranks at the San Siro and appears
confident of ironing out any problems with Balotelli if given the
chance to work with him again.
'If Inter decide to sell, we will be there,' he said recently.
'I have no problems. The most important thing is that they are
good, so that they go on the pitch and play well.'
Balotelli has developed into a player with powerful physique and
sublime skills since he rewarded Mancini's faith in handing him his
full debut at the age of 17 by scoring twice in an Italian Cup game
against Reggina.
Now 19, he has scored more goals than Roberto Baggio, Alessandro
del Piero and Francesco Totti at the same age. He refers to his old
boss as a 'friend and a great coach', but there are no guarantees
Mancini will be able to tame a player whose career has veered
worryingly off course.
Balotelli regularly clashed with Mourinho, who refused to give
him the kind of special treatment and understanding he had enjoyed
under Mancini, instead criticising his attitude and accusing him of
slacking in training sessions.
The striker was axed from the Inter team on several occasions,
most notably after an altercation with Mourinho on the eve of their
Champions League last 16 trip to Chelsea in March.
A target for racist rival supporters, his relationship with
Inter fans has also been strained. He incurred their wrath for
throwing his shirt to the floor after the Champions League
semi-final against Barcelona, and again when he appeared on an
Italian television show wearing an AC Milan shirt bearing his
name.
There were even reports that he had received a police caution
for scaring an old woman with a plastic gun.
Only on Tuesday, Roma captain and former Italy striker Totti
gave an insight into Balotelli's world when he described how he
almost quit the game after being sent off for a violent clash with
the youngster in an Italian Cup tie last season.
Goaded by constant taunts of 'grandad', 33-year-old Totti chased
Balotelli for several yards before kicking him to the ground. If
City do succeed in getting the man they call Super Mario, life
certainly won't be quiet.