Mario Balotelli set for Manchester City as Inter Milan teen sensation says yes to £24m dealMario Balotelli is on the brink of joining Manchester City from Inter Milan for an initial £24million.
The 19-year-old has told friends he is joining City and has agreed terms on a £65,000 a week five-year contract, according to reports in Italy. The transfer fee could eventually rise to £29m with add-ons.The capture would take City's incredibly summer spending spree to about £100m following the acquisitions of Jerome Boateng (Hamburg, £10m), David Silva (Valencia, £24m), Yaya Toure (Barcelona, £24m) and Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio, £17m).
Balotelli had also interested Manchester United and Chelsea, but the lure of City and their spending power appears to have been impossible to resist.
The move will reunite the erratic teenager with Roberto Mancini, the former Inter manager who handed Balotelli his debut at the San Siro in 2007.
Despite their vast wealth, City are keen to show they aren't a soft touch and reports in Italy suggest United were actually prepared to offer Balotelli a better financial package.
Mancini told Italian newspaper La Stampa: 'There is money to sign everyone, but not to pay them a lot, as some people are saying.
'He (Balotelli) is one of the four or five strikers that interest us. I was the first to believe in him and I'm convinced about what he can do.
'Mario has two qualities that suit us, his talent and his age, because I want people able to build a cycle at Manchester City.'
Mino Raiola, the player's agent, insists that nothing has yet been signed, but respected Milan paper Gazzetta dello Sport reports that everything is agreed in principle and claims Balotelli even held a farewell party with friends.
Sportsmail understands an announcement is unlikely before Wednesday.
Balotelli has flown out to America for his club's pre-season tour and, if a deal is formally wrapped up in the coming days, he could line up for City against Inter in Baltimore on Saturday.
Mancini also raised the prospect at the weekend of a move for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, but Sportsmail understands that a raid for the Spain World Cup winner is unlikely until next summer.
James Milner is a bigger priority, with City hoping to clinch a £24m deal for the 24-year-old Aston Villa midfielder.
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