AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has played down his meeting with Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.
The former Inter Milan man was back in Italy for Sunday's Milan derby and the pair were seen together at a restaurant where Galliani and the Milan team usually dine after home matches.
After being door-stepped by a number of TV cameras, they were asked about the nature of their meeting as it has been speculated that Milan are interested in signing Balotelli in January following a serious knee injury to Pippo Inzaghi.
But Galliani insisted he did not talk to the 20-year-old star to discuss a potential return to the San Siro.
"To be honest, he's a guy that I find very nice and last night we had dinner in the same restaurant," he told Gr Parlamento radio.
"We talked about this and that, but there are no negotiations in progress.
"After all, Manchester City is a rich and powerful club, and they have not taken Balotelli only for six months."
Inzaghi, 37, has been ruled out for the season due to a cruciate ligament injury while Alexandre Pato has sustained a thigh problem.
The Brazilian will be back at the turn of the year, though, and Galliani claims it is unlikely Milan will seek to bring a new striker in during the transfer window as they still have the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho at their disposal.
"Pato will recover and I think we will remain as we are," he said.
"Inzaghi will be greatly missed, but we have four strikers for two positions.
"Pippo is an extraordinary person and he hasn't finished his career. He will recover and return to play in our jersey.
"He has managed to come back from injury before and will succeed this time too."
