Roberto Mancini claims he did not make an offer for Thiago Silva in a recent meeting with AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani.
Manchester City have been heavily linked with a swoop for the highly-rated Brazilian defender since the end of the season with speculation suggesting a possible swap deal involving striker Mario Balotelli was in the offing.
The reports intensified this week when Mancini had a meeting with Galliani in Italy, but the City chief insisted that the trip had nothing to do with a potential summer deal involving Silva.
“Why did I meet Adriano Galliani at AC Milan’s headquarters?” Mancini told Antenna Tre. “Galliani invited me, he congratulated me on winning the Premier League.
“I was there for 10 minutes but we did not talk about anything, it was just a courtesy visit.
“Did Galliani say there was an assault on Thiago Silva from the richest European clubs? According to me, he was talking about Barcelona and PSG, a very rich club.”
Meanwhile, Galliani has already warned Milan’s European rivals that he has no intentions of allowing Silva to depart the San Siro this summer.
He said: “We will do the possible and the impossible to resist the temptations, which are really strong, that there are for him.
“Certainly, there are clubs with big financial resources but he’s happy to stay at Milan and he has a contract until 2016.”
