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Mario Balotelli, the most controversial footballer of the current generation, has finally agreed terms with the red side of Milan – AC Milan. The club’s Organising Director, Umberto Gandini has stated in a Twitter post that his club have agreed a deal to sign Balotelli on a four and a half year deal. It is rumoured that the deal is worth €20m plus bonuses and add-ons.
The twitter post from Gandini read as, “Transfer agreement for Balotelli signed with Manchester City. Medical is tomorrow in Milan, then personal terms until 2017 will be signed.”
Having been a striker for Inter Milan under Roberto Mancini and later Jose Mourinho, Balotelli has decided it’s time to experience life in Milan by being a striker for Inter’s arch-rivals AC Milan. After Mourinho called him “unmanageable”, he has been the most controversial figure in the footballing world. And there wasn’t a shortage of controversial headlines surrounding the striker during his 2 year stint with the Blue side of Manchester – Manchester City.
The striker had a largely successful outing with his national team Italy during Euro 2012. His scoring stats for Manchester City weren’t bad, but it was his volatile character that affected his playing days, as he earned several bookings and remained on the stands during crucial encounters. But it has to be acknowledged that the striker is a beast who can change the course of a game single-handedly on days he remains cool and composed.
Balotelli’s previous stint at Serie A was marred by racist attacks on him by spectators and vile ‘monkey’ chants followed him wherever he went. Even though football’s governing body FIFA takes several initiatives to kick racism out of the beautiful game, the results achieved in Italy leave a lot to be desired. Italian football hogs the limelight and is often penalised owing to its racist fans, who are proud of their colour and consider ‘Black’ as severely disgusting.
All in all, it remains to be seen how fans of AC Milan welcome him and how AC Milan plans to manage and accommodate Balotelli and their other controversial star Kevin Prince Boateng in the same side.
