Salford could sign Balotelli's brother

Mario Balotelli's brother Enoch is pledging to sign for Salford City.

The Manchester City and Italy striker's sibling, pictured, is set to join the Evo-Stik NPL First Division North club on non-contract terms once his international clearance arrives and registration paperwork can be completed.

He trained with the Ammies squad on Thursday night but the Evo-Stik NPL's fans may have to wait until the start of December before seeing the 20-year-old make his debut for Darren Sheridan's side.

Chairman Darren Quick broke the news on Friday afternoon when he told BBC North West Sport that it would be worth the wait with the club expecting a surge of interest from the media and fans if the brother of City's £24m striker starts playing for them in the Evo-Stik NPL.

Quick said: "He's been training with us and it's great for Salford. We hope he can play a few games for us and he can use it as a stepping stone to find a level more suited to him.

"I've not met him but I'm told he's a really nice lad and a really good footballer. We play a decent standard of football and these things can work for both parties. We might get a few more through the gate, and maybe his brother might even come and watch us."

It emerged later that the forward, who had trials with several English clubs including Stoke last season, may have jumped the gun when he told the BBC that he'd already signed for the club.

He said: "I am more than happy to join Salford. I just want to play football. I trained with them last night [Thursday], I enjoyed it, so I signed."

Salford City's Secretary Andrew Giblin confirmed that more work needs to be done yet. He also revealed that unlike his brother Mario, Enoch would be registered to play under his orginal family name of Barwuah, used by the brothers before their adoption by Italian parents.

Giblin said: "It would be fantastic for the club and I'm hopeful that is can be done but we need a lot of information yet like his national insurance number and we haven't even submitted forms to the league yet.

"If it can happen and all went smoothly, he might be able to play for us by the time we play Farsley [Dec 1]. He looked like a good footballer in training and just like Mario so we hope so."

Older brother Mario, 22, joined City in August 2010 for a reported fee of around £24m.