Balotelli banished from training as Liverpool flop touted for big-money transfer
Mario Balotelli may be asking 'Why still me?' today with current club FC Sion banishing the striker from first-team training in a bid to move him out the door.
The much travelled striker joined the Swiss side on a £2 million deal rom Turkish club Adana Demirspor last summer, but scored just six times as they were relegated from the Super League. And despite having a year left on his current deal, the club have seemingly already lost patience with the man initially billed as their biggest ever signing.
Indeed, the controversial Italian has not featured at all for the side in the 2023/24 campaign, and is now almost certain to make yet another career move. The former Man City and Liverpool star has already represented 10 clubs in his professional career, plying his trade in five different countries.
FC Sion Sporting Director Barth Constantin has previously fallen out with Balotelli, and has now delivered a candid update on the future of the 33-year-old. And it seems he could be the latest big name to head to the Middle East, following a summer of revolution in the Saudi Pro League.
"There has been interest in Mario Balotelli from a Saudi club, but nothing concrete," Constantin told reporters. "The Saudi transfer window will close later than the one in Europe, so we will see what happens. But for the time being Mario is training at our Riddes base, separately from the first-team squad."
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And the club official vowed that they would find a 'solution to the problem'. It follows his namesake and FC Sion President Christian Constantin publicly laying into the former Premier League and FA Cup winner during last season.
In a scathing rant to Swiss magazine L'Illustre, he said: "Mario has not repaid the confidence we placed in him. Neither has he rewarded us for the big financial efforts we made for him.
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"This lad thinks that the rules that govern a team are made for other people rather than him. If his agents think it worthwhile to find him a club in a country that values money differently to ours, then maybe he will soon play football again. Or maybe not. Perhaps it will be better that way."
Indeed, it seems a long time ago when Balotelli became a cult hero with Man City fans, famously revealing a t-shirt with the slogan 'Why always me'? after scoring in a 6-1 win at Old Trafford. The gesture was a response to what the striker felt was unfair media scrutiny over his behaviour on and off the field.
But his second Premier League stint at Anfield proved a huge disappointment. Balotelli scored just four goals in all competitions in the 2014/15 campaign, and was sent back to AC Milan on loan before later joining Nice.
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