Mario Balotelli served notice on his rented four-bedroom house, with the property in Alderley Edge being available since January 11th for £13,495 (€16,000) a month.
It is thought the striker has began moving his possessions out of the house – which has a pool and gym – in the expectation of a move away from Manchester City, with Milan his proposed destination.
The house Balotelli is looking to vacate is not where he lived when fireworks went off by accident in his bathroom ahead of City’s derby at Manchester United in October 2011.
The estate agent renting the property describes the house as: “Set in an elevated position on The Edge with panoramic views. The Lodge is a stunning newly constructed residence with lounge-media suite, sitting room, living kitchen, master bedroom with en suite dressing room and bathroom, three further bedrooms, three further bathrooms and spectacular leisure suite with pool and gym.
Nastasic happy
Meanwhile, Matija Nastasic is “proud” that he has been able to establish himself quickly in City’s first team by dislodging Joleon Lescott to become Vincent Kompany’s regular central defensive partner.
The Serb joined the club from Fiorentina in a €14 million transfer plus the exchange of City’s Stefan Savic during the summer and he has so far started 14 of City’s 22 Premier League games, becoming first choice ahead of Lescott from mid-September.
The England defender and Kompany were automatic choices in last season’s championship-winning side. Asked if there was surprise at how quickly he had broken up the partnership, Nastasic said: “Yes, I’m very proud of that because Joleon is a great player and so is Kolo Toure.”
Nastasic is also pleased at how he has adapted to English football. “I’m very happy about that of course. So far I’ve played 20 games and everything is going well for me at the moment. It’s a different league in Italy. It’s also very difficult to play there but I’m happy here in English football. The main difference is that in Italy it’s a very tactical game. Teams get a lot of players behind the ball. Here the games are more open and the challenges are stronger,” he said.
Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic is Nastasic’s Serbia team-mate, and on signing for the club he asked him for advice. “When I arrived I asked him for advice. I spoke with him and still speak with him,” Nastasic said.
Coveted midfielder
Manchester United are favourites to swoop for Crystal Palace’s highly-coveted midfielder Wilfried Zaha. United and Arsenal have been heavily linked with the €17 million-rated winger in recent weeks but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger denied any interest yesterday.
Wenger, at a press conference to preview his side’s midweek clash with West Ham, said: “We were never in for Zaha. I don’t know if he will go to Man United. If he goes to Man United, good luck to him.”
There have been reports that United have held discussions with Palace and that further talks are planned, although neither club have commented on the reports.
One player who will not be moving to Manchester United or the Premier League is Wesley Sneijder, who completed his move from Inter Milan to Galatasaray yesterday.
The Netherlands international had been linked with United and Liverpool due to a very public falling out with Inter Milan, who had wanted him to take a pay cut on his existing deal.
But Super Lig leaders Galatasaray beat off competition to land the playmaker’s signature, with Sneijder signing a reported three-and-a-half-year deal.
Guardian Service
