Manchester United and Manchester City will both meet Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli’s agent Mino Raiola this week to discuss possible deals to join either Premier League clubs. The 19-year-old has been subject of interest from both clubs this summer, with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson rating the player so highly as to call him the next Cristiano Ronaldo, while City coach Roberto Mancini is also a firm admirer of the teenager after working with Balotelli during his time at the Giuseppe Meazza.
With Raiola having spent all summer hawking his client to every club this summer in search of a mega-million pound move, both clubs will now be submitting details of a package for the player’s consideration before opening a bidding war for Balotelli with Inter.
The Italian and European champions are reportedly demanding at least £33.5 million for their young enigmatic talent, with new Inter boss Rafael Benitez keen to make use of the funds made available from the transfer to seal moves for other priority transfer targets.
With Balotelli keen to leave the Giuseppe Meazza after a season that has seen him fall out of favour amongst the Inter fans, Benitez is hoping to bring in reinforcements in the form of either highly rated Palermo and Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani or his former work horse protege at Liverpool Dirk Kuyt.
Kuyt spoke last week of his desire to discuss a deal with the Anfield giants that would see him end his career on Merseyside, while Palermo are refusing to sell their prized asset to Inter, thus Benitez may have tougher wheeling and dealing to do in the future.
Inter are also confident of keeping Brazilian defender Maicon at the club following reports that Real Madrid are struggling to come up with the funds to meet the Italians’ valuation of £30 million for the player. Real boss Mourinho is desperate to bring the player with him to the Bernabeu but club president Florentino Perez is understood to want to draw a line under the club’s spending after seeing rivals Barcelona experiencing financial collapse recently. Maicon has also changed his tune last week after claiming that he might choose to stay with Inter this summer.
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