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Manchester City have finally offloaded maverick striker Mario Balotelli - and set their sights on David Villa to replace him.

Balotelli will undergo a medical at AC Milan on Wednesday after City agreed to sell him for £17million, with the fee potentially rising to £19.5m depending on add-ons.

And City are set to make a last-ditch attempt to sign Barcelona’s £15m-rated forward Villa, after Arsenal were forced to give up their pursuit of him.

The Mirror has learned that City have already made an enquiry about Villa, with a view to rushing through a deal before Thursday night’s transfer deadline.

(Image: Getty)

City boss Roberto Mancini wants to bring his quota of senior strikers back to four after finally getting rid of Balotelli and sees Villa as the ideal recruit.

Ex-Barca officials Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, now City's chief executive and sporting director respectively, could use their contacts at their former club to help seal a deal.

Although Barca do not want to sell Villa, Eastlands bosses are hoping an offer of £15m could tempt them to part with the 31-year-old, who has a poor injury record.

Villa has struggled to re-establish himself as a regular at Barca after missing virtually the entire 2011-12 season with a broken leg suffered early in the campaign.

City may also explore the possibility of taking Villa on loan for the rest of the season, before moving for Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain - their top transfer target - next summer.

Balotelli’s turbulent two-and-a-half year spell at City finally came to an end after Milan finally agreed to pay £17m for the controversial 22-year-old forward.

City paid Inter Milan £22m for the Italian in August 2010 and were determined to hold out for the price they wanted, despite the player’s stock having fallen this season.

Balotelli scored just one Premier League goal this season and a training-ground bust-up with Mancini earlier this month was the final straw for the club, who decided to get rid of the player.

(Image: Angel Martinez)

The Azzurri star has agreed a four-and-a-half year deal with Milan, and agreed to take a £40,000-a-week pay-cut to make the move happen.

In total, Balotelli made 75 appearances for City, scoring 30 goals.

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The 22-year-old's combination of occasional genius on the pitch and more frequent madness off it is something we are really going to miss - check out our run-down of the most magical Mario moments.