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Mario Balotelli rejoins AC Milan on loan from Liverpool

AC Milan have re-signed Mario Balotelli on a season-long loan deal from Liverpool.

Balotelli, 25, moved to Anfield from Milan in a £16 million deal last summer but was made available for transfer after scoring only one Premier League goal for Liverpool.

The Italy international was linked with a host of Serie A sides but has now sealed his return to the Rossoneri, where he scored 26 goals in 43 league appearances after arriving from Manchester City in January 2013.

Milan said in a statement: "AC Milan announces that it has acquired the player Mario Balotelli from Liverpool on a temporary basis, until June 30, 2016."

Balotelli had told Milan's official website after passing his medical: "I am happy to be back. I don't have much to say because I just need to train and show what I can contribute.

"Physically I am OK but I need to train with the squad. I am very motivated but I need to work hard and talk less.

"I always hoped I would return to Milan, the club hold a special place in my heart. Do I want to end my career here? I just want to get back to work and have a good season, I have to work and that is it."

Sources had earlier told ESPN FC that Balotelli was prepared to take a cut in his £90,000-a-week salary to secure the move, with Liverpool agreeing to pay a portion of his wages as part of the loan deal.

He will have to compete with fellow summer signings Carlos Bacca and Luis Adriano for a place under coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, who previously worked with Balotelli when he was Roberto Mancini's assistant at Inter Milan.