AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has once again ruled out the possibility of the club signing Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli amid reports linking the former Inter Milan forward with a return to Italy, Sky Sports understands.
Balotelli, 22, has been relegated to the bench in recent weeks following a disappointing performance in the Manchester derby last month, with the in-form Edin Dzeko having replaced the Italy international in City’s starting XI.
His latest scuffle with Roberto Mancini fueled speculation that a January departure from the Etihad Stadium was imminent, but Mancini has since insisted that he is ‘very, very happy with Mario.’
Despite Milan’s previous interest in Balotelli, Galliani has revealed that he expects no new signings at the San Siro in January, while also insisting that no-one will leave the club, despite the sale of Alexandre Pato to Club World Cup winners Corinthians.
“If no-one leaves, no-one will arrive,” Galliani told Sport Mediaset.
“Mario Balotelli?
We have five strikers for two/three roles, so we are fine.
“I always said that if only one striker were to leave, we would not have taken anyone, and we have sold only Pato.
“AC Milan needs a bit of time to get back to the top, but I’m sure we will. We want to invest in young players also in this market window.”
Milan are currently in seventh-place in the Italian Serie A table with 31 points from 20 games, while league leaders Juventus are on 45 points.
In other news, AC Milan assistant coach Mauro Tassotti has praised the qualities of Newcastle United defender Davide Santon amid speculation that club president Silvio Berlusconi admires the Italy international.
A January move for Santon seems unlikely, but Milan could swoop for the former Inter defender in the summer.
Remy set for QPR medical
According to Sky Sports, Olympique de Marseille striker Loic Remy has rebuffed a move Newcastle United in favour of joining Harry Redknapp and Queens Park Rangers’ fight for English Premier League survival.
This latest news is quite shocking, especially when considering that Remy did not even agree to a face-to-face meeting with Redknapp in France earlier this week.
“He didn’t want to come,” revealed Redknapp. “I went over last week to watch him, not that I needed to, as I watched him seven times when I was at Spurs. Then just did not want to speak about coming.
“I couldn’t even get a meeting with him. I was hoping for a meeting with him to encourage him to come, and he wasn’t being disrespectful. People say he was being disrespectful and not talking to us but he was in a position where last year at Spurs he was interested and I got on well with him, and I think he felt embarrassed coming to see me to say he wasn’t interesting in coming to QPR.”
Remy, 26, is expected to undergo a medical at Loftus Road on Tuesday, with Marseille having reportedly accepted Queens Park Rangers’ bid — thought to be in the region of £8.3 million — for the France international.
An unnamed club also had a bid accepted for Remy, but it appears he will be joining bottom-of-the-table QPR.
Rangers have also been linked with moves for West Bromwich Albion duo Peter Odemwingie and Jonas Olsson as well as Rennes defensive midfielder Yann M’Vila.
Meanwhile, striker Djibril Cisse will reportedly be given the green light to leave the club later this month.
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