Serie A leaders AC Milan cannot afford Manchester City's unsettled striker Carlos Tévez, chief executive Adriano Galliani said.

Tévez has had a transfer request turned down by the Premier League club while Milan are on the lookout for a new forward in January after the injured Filippo Inzaghi was ruled out for the season.

"Tévez is great but Milan can't make an investment like that," Galliani told reporters. The Italian club have reined in spending in recent years and Tévez could cost in excess of US$40 million.

"If we find a forward who looks like a Milan player we will take him, otherwise we'll stay like this."

Galliani added that City's Mario Balotelli, a confessed Milan fan who came through at Inter Milan's youth team, was not for sale given that he only arrived in England in August and Cagliari's Alessandro Matri was also unlikely to arrive.

Milan were similarly downbeat about the chances of Zlatan Ibrahimovic signing from Barcelona in the close season but the Swede did just that and has been in superb form since.

Ronaldinho has been forced to watch much of the action from the bench in the past two months after falling down Massimiliano Allegri's pecking order but both player and coach have said the Brazilian is staying until June at least.

Faltering Italian and European champions Inter have said they will look to sign at least one top player in January and the treble winners have been linked with Tévez in the media in the past.