Mario Balotelli 1

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli is edging closer to a move back to Milan after giving notice on his rented house in Cheshire, according to The Sun.

The Italian forward has also reportedly started flying his possessions back to Milan with a move to AC for £24 million seeming more and more likely.

His representative Mino Raiola was in Italy this week speaking to AC Milan officials about a return to the San Siro, where he played with Inter Milan between 2007 and 2010 before he joined City for £24 million

City boss Roberto Mancini is said to be willing to let the wayward striker go after a series of off-the-pitch incidents have caused him nothing but trouble.

In March 2011 he threw a dart at a City youth-team player and in October that year he set a firework off from his bathroom. The latest controversy to hit the player came this month when he had a training ground bust-up with Mancini.

And in spite of AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi recently calling the player “a rotten apple”, the Italian giants still want him to spearhead their attack.

A lifelong AC Milan fan, Balotelli is believed to be homesick and longs for a return to Italy, where he is a cult-hero after helping to guide the national team to the final of Euro 2012 with three goals in the competition.

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