Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is reportedly closing in on a deal to bring madcap Italian international striker Mario Balotelli to the Emirates Stadium.
According to reports in Italy, Wenger believes he has won the race for the former Manchester City striker with a £ 24 million bid reportedly accepted by AC Milan for the striker.
The move, if confirmed, will see the former Inter Milan forward move back to England where he enjoyed a tumultuous two and half years with Manchester City, winning the FA Cup as well as the Premier League with the Citizens. But his off field antics proved too much for former manager Roberto Mancini to take and the Italian manager sold his protégé to AC Milan in January last season.
Balotelli has had a brilliant goals return in Serie A but the fallen giants of Italian football have grown tired of his behavior off the pitch and are looking to offload him and use the money to rebuild the team.
The club has recently sacked manager Clarence Seedorf, replacing him with another AC Milan legend Filippo Inzaghi and the mercurial forward doesn’t feature in the plans for the future of the new manager.
Wenger believes he can tame the Italian and bring out the best in him, which the English game saw bits and pieces of, on a consistent basis, and has made him his number one target this summer as he looks to add a top quality striker to partner Olivier Giroud up front.
The Gunners have already pocketed a cool £ 5.6 million from Chelsea’s signing of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona and with almost £ 100 million available for Arsene Wenger, he is ready to end his miserly approach and splash the cash to ensure the team wins trophies after securing the FA Cup last season.