Mario Balotelli extends his contract!
Mario Barwuah Balotelli (Super Mario) has today extended his contract until 2011.
He will now earn £1m per season.
The striker blasted his way to recognition in the peninsula with a Coppa Italia quarter-final double against Juventus.
Balotelli had been on a youth salary, earning just £60,000 per year.
There had been rumours that Chelsea were considering a swoop, but it now seems that Balotelli’s future lies in Inter!
Balotelli remain Inter’s
Inter’s teen sensation Mario Balotelli is ready to sign a contract extension with the Beneamata and has set some ambitious targets.
At the age of 17, Balotelli stole the headlines with a crucial brace in last term’s Coppa Italia quarter-final triumph over Juventus.
And the gifted youngster played an increasingly important role in Roberto Mancini’s attack, often beating David Suazo and Hernan Crespo to a starting shirt.
Despite insisting that he could leave and showing little attachment to the Nerazzurri shirt while negotiating his first full senior contract, Balotelli does now seem ready to commit to the Italian champions.
“There is an agreement for a contract renewal,” he told the Corriere dello Sport.
“I want to thank Mancini for giving me the chance to play, but Jose Mourinho is a great Coach and he won’t take age into consideration.
“My main objective is the Champions League and I also can’t wait to represent Italy.
“I have suffered a great injustice in that I was born in Italy and have always lived here, but I have to wait until I am 18 to get a passport.”
The son of Ghanaian immigrants, Balotelli was born in Palermo before being entrusted to Italian parents by the courts.
In spite of living in the peninsula all his life, Super Mario has missed out on playing for the Azzurri at the Olympic Games as he doesn’t turn 18 until August 12 and can’t obtain the necessary citizenship documents. (C4)
After many rumors of last days, seem in the end surpassed every obstacle about the contract renewal of Mario Balotelli with Inter. TMW has so thought to ask to his agent Corrado Balotelli, some information. “The agreement with Inter has been reached, there isn’t the sign still, but will arrive in few days. Lack still some little details. Is not true that my brother will be sent on loan, at least would be sold in case not found an agreement for continue together, but fortunately the agreement has been reached”.
About Mourinho: Mario has still not know Mourinho, the first meeting will arrive in Brunico, when will start the retreat”. (tmw)
Mario earns new contract?
Inter are edging closer to agreeing a contract extension with teen striking star Mario Balotelli.
At the tender age of 17, Palermo native Balotelli exploded into the nation’s consciousness with two decisive goals against Juventus in the quarter-finals of last term’s Coppa Italia.
Roberto Mancini opted to field the powerful hitman in place of David Suazo and Hernan Crespo at the end of last season and he seems to be on the road to superstardom.
However, Balotelli has repeatedly stressed that he feels no special attachment to Inter and has been targeted by a number of top sides, including Chelsea.
But the Nerazzurri have stepped up their efforts to tie Super Mario to San Siro and are reportedly willing to offer him a lucrative deal that expires in 2013.
As a youth player, Balotelli currently earns just £50,000 per year, but his new terms may see him net £1.1m with an annual increase.
By 2013, Balotelli would be earning around £2.5m per season should he opt to remain a Nerazzurro. (C4)
Mario for Lampard?
Jose Mourinho’s Inter transfer campaign kicks off with Deco and Frank Lampard pushing Adriano and Mario Balotelli towards Chelsea.
The new Coach has not yet made public proclamations on his targets for the summer, but the newspapers in Italy and around Europe are certain of at least two names – Lampard and Deco.
Lampard has also been linked with another ex-Chelsea boss at Claudio Ranieri’s Juventus, but Inter have the upper hand.
This is because the Nerazzurri are ready to offer either Adriano or Balotelli as part of the transfer.
Adriano is due to return from his loan spell at Sao Paolo, having rediscovered his form and a place in the Brazil squad, but is not said to be part of Mourinho’s plans.
According to the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper, they will look to Chelsea to take on Adriano’s hefty £4.4m per season wages.
Another alternative is teenage wunderkind Balotelli, who exploded on to the scene over the final few months of the Scudetto race.
The striker, who only turns 18 in August, has been sending out repeated warnings he is by no means certain to stay with the club.
“I don’t feel like an Inter player inside,” he was quoted as saying in the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I don’t feel like a player who belongs in a mid-table side, either.”
Chelsea have already shown an interest in the Italian talent of Ghanaian extraction and the upcoming contract negotiations with Inter are bound to be affected by this.
Other players expected to leave the Beneamata in the wake of Roberto Mancini’s sacking are Cesar Aparecido, Maniche, Santiago Solari, Nicolas Burdisso, Olivier Dacourt and David Suazo.
It is reported in today’s media that Barcelona have already agreed to sell Deco to the Nerazzurri, where he’ll reunite with his former Porto boss.
However, The Mail on Sunday insists that Deco will be re-routed to Chelsea instead, where he’ll replace the Inter-bound Lampard.
Deals are also in the offing to bring Abdoullay Konko from Genoa in a co-ownership deal worth over £2m in partial exchange for the loan of Nelson Rivas. (C4)
Mourinho to Mario Balotelli
“Balotelli is a player so strong. I want to know him and understand him mentally, but in football way he has great potentialities but must continue like this.”