Mario Balotelli leads band of English Premier League misfits to promised land of Serie A
Some tifosi might be licking their lips, but for some pundits AC Milan fans got the rawest deal on Tuesday when Mario Balotelli became the latest Premier League flop to return “home” in a quest to resurrect his career.
Of them all, Balotelli’s return to Milan on a one-year loan deal following a disastrous first season with Liverpool is by far the most controversial.
Loved and hated in equal measure, the 25-year-old continues to divide fans and mystify the pundits who believe there is still so much more to come from a player whose controversies far outweigh his true achievements in the game.
I wish him all the best, but he’s never really taken off as a player. If he returns, it is totally absurd
“Let’s stop talking about him, he’s never achieved anything,” former AC Milan midfielder Zvonimir Boban, now a respected pundit for Sky Sport Italia, said last season.
And not many Liverpool fans would disagree – after a season in which Balotelli failed to spark and, with memories still fresh after three notorious years at Manchester City, created headlines for all the wrong reasons.
He took 13 games to hit his first league goal for the Reds and Balotelli was then suspended for one game and fined £25,000 (HK$194,000) for posting an image on social media which appeared to contain anti-Semitic and racist references.
Now, Milan have taken a gamble that Balotelli will morph into “SuperMario”.