Fiery Italian striker Mario Balotelli might have just made his OGC Nice debut, but his controversial agent Mino Raiola has stated that the former golden boy of Italian football will return to ply his trade in the Premier League.
Balotelli has played for a number of clubs in his career so far, with varying degrees of success, although his time in the Premier League – especially at Liverpool – is largely remembered as a failure.
Balotelli’s finest contribution while playing on English shores – His assist for Aguero to win the 2012 Premier League title – will remain one of the PL’s most defining moments, but sadly, such moments were few and far between.
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His time in Merseyside yielded a paltry 4 goals, and he was shipped back to Milan with his confidence dented. This return to his spiritual home did not translate to good form, however, and he endured troubled times in Italy, with a disappointing season culminating in him being omitted from the national squad for Euro 2016.
On his return to Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, a manager who prides himself on building teams that run their socks off, had already made a decision to discard the former Inter man. Balotelli then moved to Nice, promptly scoring a brace on his debut.
However, even as he finally looks to be settling down, his controversial agent Mino Raiola has said that he feels Mario Balotelli will soon move back to The Premier League.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Raiola said, “Italy is unlivable for him because of the attention he gets. If he proves he can become stable at Nice and score goals then imagine how attractive he would be to a Premier League manager next summer as a free agent.”
“France needs him like they needed Zlatan. He is good for the league but he will absolutely return to the Premier League.”
“What would a real manager rather do? Gamble £100m on a striker or take Balotelli because no-one can tell me he is not a world-class talent.”
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Given the lack of pure strikers of any given quality in world football today, Raiola might just have a point. If Balotelli can mature during his time in France, given his unquestionable footballing ability, he sure would be a force to be reckoned with if he does indeed return to the premier league. He might even one day be called “a bargain”.
