#4 Mario Balotelli - Nice
Perhaps someone described Mario Balotelli aptly when they claimed that you cannot love him unless he plays for you. The eccentric forward has been an enigma ever since he broke onto the world stage with his performances for Inter Milan, scoring wonderful goals in between doing crazy things on and off the pitch.
The striker’s stock had already been on a downward spiral when he arrived at Anfield. After having helped Manchester City to win their first League title since the 1967-68 season, the player soon fell out with his manager Roberto Mancini and moved to AC Milan in a bid to re-establish himself as the player he was touted to be.
While he did score 30 goals in 54 appearances for Milan, it never seemed like he was truly hitting the heights and when Liverpool came calling in the summer of 2014, it was touted to be a marriage made in heaven. The Reds were keen to add more attacking firepower after losing Luis Suarez to Barcelona and Balotelli’s ability as well as experience made him a perfect fit.
The move though did not go down too well and Liverpool decided to let him leave for French club Nice for no transfer fee at end of the 2015-16 season. While Balotelli might not be setting the footballing world on fire, he is certainly doing his bit to ensure that Nice remain in contention for the Ligue1 title. The striker has scored 11 goals in 21 appearances for the French club and has established himself as a critical component of their title run.
Nice remain in contention for the title as they sit five points behind leaders Monaco with seven games to go and if “Super Mario” can remain composed he could etch himself in the memoirs of the club, of course with a bit of luck.
