Mario BalotelliMILANO — Mario Balotelli, whose wacky antics have filled the British newspapers almost daily in the last two-and-a-half years, is set to return to Italy with AC Milan after a deal was agreed with Manchester City Tuesday. The Italy striker, a boyhood Milan fan, first broke through at rival Inter Milan and is returning home for a fee media reports have put at 20 million euros ($26.92 million) after a largely frustrating spell with the English champion. “Transfer agreement for Balotelli signed with Manchester City. Medicals tomorrow in Milan, then personal terms until 2017," Milan director Umberto Gandini said on Twitter. The club's TV channel said the same. City manager Roberto Mancini, who gave the player his debut at Inter, had said Balotelli would not be leaving in the January transfer window, but the striker's desire to go back to Italy appears to have won the day. Drogba eyes more Champs glory Istanbul club Galatasaray has agreed with Shanghai Shenhua to sign striker Didier Drogba, the club said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange Monday. The deal is for 18 months starting in the second half of the current season, Galatasaray Sportif, the Istanbul's club merchandising unit, said. “The opportunity to play for this great club was an offer that I could not turn down," Drogba was quoted as saying on Twitter. “I am looking forward to playing in the Champions League again, against the best clubs in Europe," added the Ivory Coast captain, who won Europe's leading club competition with Chelsea last year when he scored the decisive penalty in a shootout. The Galatasaray deal includes transfer fees totaling 6 million euros ($8 million) and payments of 15,000 euros per match, plus signing fees of 4 million euros. The 34-year-old Drogba moved to China after Chelsea's Champions League triumph last year. Drogba applied for permission to leave on loan before the January transfer window, but world soccer's ruling body FIFA refused the request. Drogba's transfer comes less than a week after Netherlands midfielder and 2010 Champions League winner Wesley Sneijder joined Galatasaray from Inter Milan. Galatasaray has been drawn to meet German club Schalke 04 in the last 16 of the Champions League next month. Beckham training at Arsenal Former England midfielder David Beckham has been training with Arsenal, the club's manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed, but rejected reports that it could sign him. “He called me. He has asked to come here and to work on his fitness. He has not done anything for a long, long time," Wenger said of Beckham, who is without a club after leaving Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of last Major League Soccer season. “It's purely for fitness. There's no speculation about signing or anything." Where Beckham, who made his name with Manchester United and has also played for Real Madrid and AC Milan, continues his career has still to be decided. And if his football career is now over, he could yet find himself with plenty of offers of promotional work. — Agencies
