'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
His reputation, one of immaturity and pugnacity, is irrevocable. On billboards across the UK and throughout the London underground, Mario Balotelli, sponsored by Puma and threatening to deliver a sly grin, adorns the walls, standing mockingly sporting a neat mohawk haircut and wearing studded earrings. In bold, imposing white font, under-lined with a streak of red, reads “Rule-Breaker: Mario Balotelli”.
Whether he will appease his unfashionable, and frankly, irreversible reputation is another matter. His return to the Premier League, so sensational in its’s execution, is sufficiently dramatic to be converted into an immensely entertaining blockbuster Hollywood movie. With Balotelli, there are always fireworks.
9.0 magnitude risk
“This is not the Mario show,” insisted Brendan Rodgers but the spotlight at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon will be firmly on the Italian. He was in attendance on Monday evening as Liverpool succumbed to Manchester City’s power and experience at the Etihad Stadium and, according to Rodgers, is prepared to reignite his faltering career.
“His return to the Premier League, so sensational in it’s execution, is sufficiently dramatic to be converted into an immensely entertaining blockbuster Hollywood movie”
His agent Mino Raiola spoke candidly of the move to Anfield of being Balotelli’s “last chance at the highest level” and the description does not seem at all exaggerated. At 24, Balotelli, having expressed publicly his strong desire to establish himself as the world’s most accomplished centre-forward, must excel and exorcise the turbelence of his past, years which culminated in numerous league triumphs and Champions League glory with Inter Milan.
His pugancious reputation will be further enhanced by the constant “Rule-breaker” advertisements but they are implacable and irrevocable. The fact that Rodgers believes he can exorcise the immaturity and complacency in Balotelli is fascinating in itself. The Northern Irishman emphasised his impressive track record in inculcating a commendable work ethic and a sense of mature responsibility in players believed to be difficult, with Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge served as adequate examples of Rodgers’s impressively adroit man-management, but Balotelli represents a different challenge altogether.
His talent, hailed as “exceptional” by Rodgers, is widely undoubted but it is his several misdemeanours which have thwarted his progression. For a player Jose Mourinho described as being blessed with only one brain cell, his acquisition represents an immense gamble.
Roberto Mancini, who represented a father figure to Balotelli, pledged to give the Italy internatonal “100 chances to change” but the former City forward will not be treated in such soothing fashion at Anfield, with fears mounting over a possible destruction of the serene atmosphere engulfing the club.
Having been twice offloaded from City and AC Milan as a result of his misdemeanours, his arrival at Anfield is an example of Rodgers’s audacity.
Gianluca Vialli, formerly of Chelsea, hailed his sale as the “greatest” in Milan’s illustrious history. History portrays Balotelli as an easily irritable figure, tending to thrive at a new club before ultimately becoming seized by exasperation.
Yet, amid the rampant debate surrounding his return, his potential contribution to Liverpool’s audacious cause must not be rapidly disregarded. At £16m, the Italian could represent a bargain was Rodgers to exorcise the demons of his past from the 24 year-old talent, and at such a young age, he is impressively decorated, with a plethora of domestic honours and the Champions League title to his name.
Having played an integral role in Inter Milan and Mourinho’s memroable Champions League campaign of 2010, Balotelli’s experience in the competition will be crucial to Liverpool’s chances in Europe’s elite competition. He may have only been aged 19 but he starred for Mourinho’s spirited Inter side up to the final in Madrid, ommitted from the starting line-up due to his fractious relationship with Mourinho. He could not be trusted to conduct himself in appropiate manner in a much of such significance, and the plot is similar when he joined Manchester City in 2010.
There were moments of mercurial brilliance and, in sync, moments worthy subjects of derision, most notably when he marvelled in scoring a brace against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns before striking out petulantly at Youssouf Mulumbu.
However, the magnitude of the risk Rodgers has invited was perfectly encapuslated by Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp. “Balotelli is a fantastic talent,” he said. “I’ve got a lad here called Adel Taarabt [who was on loan at Milan last season], who’s not the best trainer and hasn’t always got the best attitude, and I spoke to him and he told me, ‘if you think I’m bad, you should see Balotelli!’
