Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini insists his club have no chance of signing Manchester City forward Mario Balotelli.

The Italy international has not featured at all in either of City’s Premier League matches to date.

Balotelli was born in the Sicilian city and was quoted as saying: “You know where I’d like to play? Palermo. I’d love to go there. It’s a nice place, and it’s sunny.”

Palermo’s finances have been boosted by the sale of Javier Pastore to Paris St Germain for a reported £37 million, but even so, Zamparini thinks Balotelli is out of their league.

“But if we sold (Javier) Pastore over a contract issue, imagine what we’d be taking on with Balotelli.

“Mario is an Inter, Milan or Juventus type of player, but even those clubs would have problems finding the kind of money that he gets paid at Manchester City. Let alone Palermo.”

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