LA GALAXY and Besiktas are battling it out to secure the free transfer of Mario Balotelli.
The maverick ex-Manchester City striker was frozen out before being released by Brescia this summer.
Mario Balotelli could have his choice between LA Galaxy and BesiktasCredit: Reuters
In June he was effectively “sacked” by the Italian outfit after a monster bust-up with the club’s chief and former Leeds supremo Massimo Cellino.
It was then claimed that Balotelli’s contract with Brescia was set to be terminated at the end of the 2019/20 campaign.
But the 30-year-old was reportedly given his marching orders earlier than planned after missing ten days of training.
And he was then denied entry to Brescia’s training base and sent packing by security just days later.
Despite being a free agent for a number of weeks, developments regarding his future have been slow.
However, Marca claims it is the MLS and Turkish sides leading the chase for his signature.
Galaxy are still looking to fill the void left by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s departure, with Javier Hernandez struggling for goals after arriving as replacement.
However, Balotelli’s salary could provide a problem for the US outfit.
They are already paying Hernandez, Jonathan dos Santos and Cristian Pavon as their allotted three designated players.
Speculation mounted that Besiktas were willing to pay the former Liverpool flop £43,000-a-week to come to Turkey.
And that could give them the advantage of Galaxy in the pursuit of the controversial forward, who scored five times in 19 top-flight matches during his year-long stint at Brescia.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
