Mario Balotelli will remain in Milan for now, according to Mario Balotelli

Most of the signs in recent weeks indicated that Mario Balotelli would not be available for a January transfer, and the player has confirmed what most of us believed with some comments to the media today. Balotelli is claiming that he won't be going anywhere in January, preferring to remain in Italy in advance of the World Cup.

The player doesn't rule out a move down the line, and with AC Milan likely to undergo a major management shake up this summer, commenting on just the short term is probably for the best. The club and player both insist there will be no move in January, so there's little reason to believe anything different.

Even if there is no immediate move coming for Mario, he's certainly a target to keep an eye on going forward. There aren't many center forwards with the same combination of youth, size, and world class talent available, so he's certainly worth considering if he eventually becomes available. That's probably a subject for another day though.

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