Mario Balotelli’s problems both on and off the field have been well documented since his arrival in Manchester, but if he was to leave the club in the month’s transfer window, would he be considered a flop?
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has revealed that the club are looking into taking the striker back to the ground he once played at for rivals Inter, but discussions have already hit a snag as of how much the miserable front-man is worth.
He told Gazzetta dello Sport: ‘At the end of Friday, Manchester City still want 37million euros. We will see on Monday. Under these conditions, he will remain at Manchester City.’
Now, taking away his considered value and his final destination, if Mario Balotelli left then would fans of the Etihad club consider his spell at the club a waste of time?
The Italy international has contributed very little since Roberto Mancini took the plunge in signing him back in 2010 and has often proved to be a major disruption to the team, be it his sulky outbursts and half-arsed strolls around the pitch or setting his house on alight with some wayward fireworks, his cons certainly appear to outweigh his pros. So much so in fact that Milan president Silvio Berlusconi has labelled him a rotten apple and wouldn’t want him in the San Siro dressing room in fear of damaging team morale.
His 30 goals in 75 games for the Blues suggests that there is a quality player in there somewhere, but his many chances does the 22-year-old need?
He was recently involved in a training ground tussle with gaffer Roberto Mancini, adding to the numerous other disputes with the likes of Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany and Aleksander Kolorov, and was also head of a prank aimed at the youth team players at City where he proceeded to throw darts at members of the team.
Part of me wants Balotelli to grow up and start trying to earn the £100,000 a week that he is reportedly getting paid, but another part of me enjoys his antics and would like his stay in England to continue, but if Roberto Mancini persisted with trying to get rid of the young forward, would this be admitting defeat?
Perhaps so, but who can blame him?