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Mario Balotelli banned from having cool haircuts at AC Milan
Silvio Berlusconi is the absolute worst.
Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Mario Balotelli has a reputation for acting a little strange (and occasionally destructively) off the pitch, so it’s no surprise that AC Milan put some clauses into his loan contract. He’ll be in trouble if he gets caught smoking, staying out too late ... or wearing cool clothes and having a silly haircut?
Yep. “The contract also stipulates that Balotelli avoids ... wearing extravagant clothes or having outrageous hairstyles.” Well, that seems unnecessary and is almost certainly racist. Way to be awful, Milan!
Goal of the day
Here’s Rolando Aarons doing some fancy footwork, helping to set up a Florian Thauvin ninja-kick goal. (r/soccer)
In the news
Kevin Strootman is going to miss another season with a knee injury. (Gazzetta)
Louis van Gaal says Marouane Fellaini will play striker this year. (@ManUtd)
Injured Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen won’t get fit in time for Euro qualifiers. (BBC)
Arsenal drew Tottenham in the League Cup. The full draw is here. (Guardian)
Antonio Cassano is out with a muscle injury. (Football Italia)
You should be reading
Mike Goodman on Francis Coquelin and Arsenal’s tactics. (Grantland)
Nando Vila on Lionel Messi being weirdly bad at penalties. (Soccer Gods)
Iain McIntosh on hating the Champions League draw. (The Set Pieces)
Fun with transfer rumors
The section in which nothing should be taken seriously.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is hinting he could go back to Malmo. (Telegraph)
Manchester United aren’t giving up on signing Gareth Bale. (ESPN FC)
Asier Illaramendi is close to going back to Real Sociedad. (AS)
Son Heung-Min could be moving to Tottenham Hotspur. (Cartilage Free Captain)
Lucas could be staying put at Liverpool. (Guardian)
Expect Fernando Llorente to join Sevilla. (AS)
Tuesday’s games
What to watch on Wednesday (click for listings, all times ET)
Champions League: Five games (2:45 p.m.) - Bayer Leverkusen vs. Lazio is the clear pick of the bunch.
League Cup: Barnsley vs. Everton (2:45 p.m.) - Apparently John Stones is not refusing to play.
MLS: Two games (from 8:30 p.m.) - They’re not great, but Red Bulls are usually worth watching.
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