Mario Balotelli sent-off as Mino Raiola fuels transfer rumours to end his Nice fairy tale start
Balotelli was sent-off in Nice's 0-0 draw with Bordeaux for kicking Igor Lewczuk, and after leading Nice to the top of Ligue 1, has the fairy tale story been replaced by the Super Mario soap opera?
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Your support makes all the difference.It all seemed too good to be true for Mario Balotelli. The hot-headed striker has found a home away from homes with Ligue 1 leaders Nice, resurrected his football career with 10 goals in 13 matches after his dismal Liverpool spell and is thought to be on the cusp of a return to the Italian national team.
And how does he celebrate? By kicking an opponent and getting sent-off.
The 26-year-old lashed out at Bordeaux defender Igor Lewczuk, earning himself a straight red card during Wednesday’s 0-0 draw that leaves Nice top of the table at Christmas with a two-point lead over Monaco, with reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain a further three points behind.
Picking up a red card isn’t the worst thing that Balotelli has done, even if it was for a petulant kick, but in true ‘Super Mario’ fashion, the Italian reacted to the dismissal by removing his shirt to give it to a fan as if nothing had happened, and as he proceeded down the tunnel at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, he pushed away a camera before disappearing from sight.
Watch the video below...
This isn’t the first time that Balotelli has seen red while in France, having already been sent-off for two bookings in the 2-1 win over Lorient in October, and to complete the saga, the incident came just hours after his agent fuelled fresh speculation that he is already looking to leave Nice.
The outspoken Mino Raiola, the ‘super-agent’ behind the summer transfer of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester United, revealed on Wednesday that the former AC and Inter Milan striker has “already held talks with English clubs”.
We've already had talks with English clubs, but it's really too early to say. We want to keep it day-by-day with Mario," Raiola told Talksport ahead of the January transfer window.
"For Mario I always knew it [his return to form] will come. He was in his last year at Liverpool and he was very stable and not so emotional any more."
The comments will not be welcome on the south coast in France, with the club offering Balotelli what feels like a fifth chance rather than a second one to try and make something out of his football ability. After joining Liverpool for £16m in 2014 in what Brendan Rodgers described as a poor signing, Balotelli was allowed to leave Anfield for free, even though he still had one year left on his contract.
I said the team was good and the fans are amazing, but I would never go back to Liverpool
He has since insisted that he will never return to Liverpool as a player for the club, but has spoken of his interest in a move back to Manchester City if they wanted him back, as well as expressing his liking for Arsenal.
"[If I go back to England] for sure not Liverpool," Balotelli said earlier in the year.
"Because I found myself [performing] very bad in Liverpool. I said the team was good and the fans are amazing, but I would never go back to Liverpool.
“The first one I think of in England is Manchester City, and the second team I always like is Arsenal. That doesn't mean I'll go to play there. I just like them."
The summary is that after six months off, the Mario Balotelli soap opera is back for another season, and that can only be bad news for the player himself. Every time he finds himself back in the headlines, it’s for the wrong reasons and his career suffers as a result. The multiple training bust-ups that he had at City – with Vincent Kompany, Micah Richards and manager Roberto Mancini among others – saw him dropped as a result, while his poor disciplinary record means that he is often suspended to disrupt any run of games he strings together.
This can be seen at Nice, too, where he has already been booked seven times along with the two red cards, which included a run of five straight matches with a yellow card.
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