Juve join £17m battle for Balo

AC MILAN are confident of bagging Mario Balotelli — but Juventus are ready to hijack the move.

The misfit striker, 22, travelled with the Manchester City squad for tonight’s clash at rock-bottom QPR.

He then hopes to fly out to Italy tomorrow morning to complete his return to Serie A for an inital fee of around £17million.

City, though, insist he will only do this if their asking price is met.

Milan are prepared to fork out £17m, but that would include add-ons and is close to what City chiefs are looking for.

Juventus have now emerged as a strong contender for his signature, with more talks due to take place with them today.

So it seems likely the game at Loftus Road will be Balotelli’s last as a City player — although he may not even make the bench.

His move will end a controversial 2½-year spell at the Etihad following his £22m switch from Inter Milan. City had been hoping to get their money back but did not want any potential transfer to collapse.

The move will be personally disappointing for City boss Roberto Mancini, who also managed Balotelli at Inter.

But the player has let him down too many times and the final straw came when they had a training-ground bust-up earlier this month.

City, meanwhile, must face QPR with only one specialist centre-back in Joleon Lescott.