Super Mario – Balotelli lighting up Serie A

Italian international Mario Balotelli has gone from strength to strength when it comes to football playing for some of the biggest clubs in Europe and the Azzurri.

The 22-year-old started his football career with Lega Pro Prima Divisione A, 8th side AC Lumezzane, he spent one season there but did not score any goals and made 2 appearances, he then got scouted by Inter Milan in which he really made his mark in Serie A and very slowly being called “Super Mario” for his outrageous goal he scores and how many times he is on the score sheet.

During his time at Inter he made 59 appearances and put himself on the score sheet 20 times. Life was going great for Balotelli when he was starting to have a different attitude on the pitch with officials and coaching staff. Back then Robert Mancini was coaching the striker but felt his heart was not in the games for Inter Milan and a transfer was on the horizon.

In 2010 Mario signed for Manchester City and to his luck, Roberto Mancini alos moved with him, he partnered well with Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko and had been on the scoresheet on 20 occasions and also made 54 appearances in which this great performance by Balotelli caught the eye of Cesare Prandelli as he wanted to revamp the Italian National team and thought a fresh new striker will spark the azzurri in place of Antonio Cassano, Fabio Quagliarella and Alberto Gilardino.

Yet again Mario Balotelli was on the transfer market and ready to move from England to his next destination where eventually he will end up back in Italy. Media speculation grew as to where he would be plying his trade and Juventus and AC Milan were very high candidates for his signature. The Italian international was very close to sign for Juventus but a last minute bid from AC Milan had hijacked the transfer to the Old Lady.

It is now 2013 and Mario Balotelli is playing for AC Milan scoring 7 times in 7 games, he is also the go-to man for the Azzurri along-side his team-mate Stephan El- Shaarawy which they make a great striker partnership for Cesare Prandelli’s side.

He is currently on suspension for 3 matches, this means he will miss the next match against rivals Napoli, current Italian champions Juventus and Catania.

Follow Peter Crepaz on twitter: @Crepaz10