Nine years on, Mario Balotelli has finally come up with a reason for that impetuous backheel in Los Angeles. The one that had American television commentators hammering him for, for “disrespecting LA Galaxy”, the one when, midway through a friendly on Manchester City’s tour of the west coast, he inexplicably spun on his heels when clean through to flick wide without a care in the world, Dailymail writes.
The one when an incandescent Roberto Mancini hauled him off within moments and team-mates publicly called him out. That one, ‘’I thought I was offside,’ Balotelli said. Listen to the whistle before I shot, that’s why I did it.”
There was indeed an audible whistle, albeit a shriek that sounded like it had emanated from a middle-aged bloke decked in clown gear at a fairground. Certainly not from a referee, City staff eventually – eventually being the operative word – shrugged their shoulders at the incident.
After all, that was Mario, and the pass he slid to Sergio Aguero nine months later was a key ingredient in the most dramatic Premier League title race ever.
Balotelli will always be welcome back at the Etihad Stadium with opens arms, as he was for Vincent Kompany’s testimonial last year. There is a special place and fondness for him in east Manchester.
That does not extend to many other areas of Europe, though, and Balotelli’s career has continued on a downward trajectory for some time now.
He has left Brescia after a season, a relationship that began to unravel when the Serie A strugglers updated his medical details on their official website to claim the striker was eight kilos overweight.
He had been refused entry into the training ground once sessions resumed following the lifting of lockdown restrictions in Italy. His last appearance came on March 9 and Brescia were subsequently relegated.
So, shockingly – and despite a strong start to his time at a place he was once a ballboy – the exit between Balotelli and a club owned by Massimo Cellino was acrimonious.
He looks for new employers once again, with Romanian champions CFR Cluj seemingly next. Their owner, Nelutu Varga, has spoken about signing a ‘top Italian striker’, which has been taken to mean Balotelli.
Flamengo in Brazil have also been interested in signing the 29-year-old. Cluj will play in European competition next season, although wages could act as a roadblock to the move. Rocking up in Romania would feel in keeping with Balotelli’s nomadic career as he looks for a ninth permanent home.
Balotelli never truly fitted into the professional game, particularly in England, and he was not on the same page as older players. At City they accepted that, and it was put down to his tender age, but other clubs have not entertained it since. Liverpool was a disaster, one Premier League goal to his name following the management’s desperation to replace Luis Suarez.
Balotelli trained poorly at Melwood, ended up with the kids, and Jurgen Klopp wanted him gone on arrival, Rickie Lambert was preferred to him on a regular basis and there, more strikingly than anywhere else, was the feeling that his attitude hindered progress.
It is hard to believe that this was the same player who was named in the Euro 2012 team of the tournament. Unplayable on his day, yet those days became ever more infrequent, UCL 2010 triumph with Inter and EPL with Man City under Mancini.
Nice seemed a good fit for two years before Balotelli downed tools and went to Marseille. ‘He is a former team-mate, that is it,’ Nice’s Malang Sarr said. ‘He knows very well that his behavior was not appreciated by everyone. He wasted six months.’
The patience of others has waned over time. If it is to be Cluj, we are past a resurrection of a career. Now it is just merely about staying in the game. Balotelli is 30 next week.
