Mario Balotelli scored five goals in 19 appearances in all competitions for Brescia before leaving the club following their demotion to Serie B
Saturday 5 December 2020 16:32, UK
Mario Balotelli is set to sign for Serie B club AC Monza on a deal until the end of the season, according to Sky in Italy.
The former Liverpool and Manchester City striker has been a free agent since leaving Brescia after their relegation to Italian football's second tier last term.
Balotelli, who won the Premier League title with City in 2012 after achieving three Serie A titles with Inter Milan, had his contract with his hometown side Brescia terminated because he repeatedly missed training sessions in June and July.
Rumours earlier this week claimed he was close to signing with Brazilian outfit Vasco Da Gama. Barnsley also made an enquiry about the former Italy striker last month.
The 30-year-old will undergo his medical with Monza on Monday.
In June, the Italian Football Federation curtailed the Serie C season and Monza secured their first promotion to Serie B in 20 years with a dominating campaign which saw them crowned group A champions with a 16-point margin.
The club is owned by former AC Milan president and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Former Portsmouth and AC Milan midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng also signed for Monza in the summer.
Silvio Berlusconi is back in the game. Three years after selling AC Milan, the 83-year-old is targeting a swift return to the dizzy heights of Serie A with his new reality - AC Monza.
Behind the success of the humble Lombardy club lies a strong core of Berlusconi's most trusted lieutenants, such as right-hand man Adriano Galliani and former Milan player and manager Cristian Brocchi.
The Serie C title is the first step of what could be a very quick rise to the top of the Italian football ladder in Berlusconi's latest project for glory - one which echoes his trophy-laden era as Milan supremo.
"There's no point hiding - we want to take this city, the third-biggest in Lombardy, into Serie A," Galliani told Sky in Italy earlier this year.
"Now comes the hard bit, but the conditions for us to achieve our goal are all in place.
"The goal now is to build a top team, we already started talking about transfers. Our budget will be used to go in Serie A, we won't go crazy but we will do what's necessary."
