Milan happy with Mario exit

Cape Town - AC Milan sporting director Umberto Gandini believes Mario Balotelli's recent move to Liverpool was in the best interests of all parties.

The Italy international departed the San Siro for Anfield in the off-season in a £16 million deal, but has so far struggled to adapt to life with the Reds.

A lack of fitness and game time also saw Balotelli miss out on a call up to the Italian national team, and Gandini believes Milan were fortunate to have offloaded the striker when they did.

He told the Daily Star on Sunday: “We all felt coming to Italy, to a place where he was loved, would have been the ideal environment for him to blossom into a star player.

“But it didn’t work out for both sides. Mario was not the kind of player we were looking for in order to have a better team on the pitch.

“On the other hand, he probably felt the Premier League was the best stage for him to perform on and he wanted to go back there.

“So Liverpool came at just the right time. It just made everyone happy.”