FOLLOWERS of the English football are divided on what to expect from Italian bad boy, Mario Ballotteeli, who yesterday completed his move from AC Milan to Liverpool. But every one of them accept that the striker with Ghanaian heritage is a talented player.
Mindful of the skepticism with which even Liverpool fans look at him, Balotelli has promised to reward Brendan Rogers for the faith in him when other managers, including Arsene Wenger, feared to touch him with a long spoon.
After signing for the Anfield side in a deal worth £16 million yesterday, Balotelli promised to take Liverpool to UEFA Champions League glory, admitting he had made a mistake in turning his back on English football.
Balotelli, who will wear his favoured No. 45 shirt, is understood to have signed a three-year deal with the option of a fourth year.
The striker won the Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010 and has ambitions of repeating the feat with Liverpool on the Reds’ return to Europe’s elite competition.
He told Liverpool’s official website: “I always start a competition wanting to win it. We will see. I want to win another Champions League for sure, because the Champions League wasn’t all mine, I was in a team. I want to take this team to the Champions League.”
Balotelli also admitted that just 18 months back in Milan had convinced him he should return to the Premier League.
“I’m happy to be back because I left England and it was a mistake,” Balotelli said.
“I wanted to go to Italy but I realised it was a mistake. English football is generally better. English football is beautiful.”
Balotelli was given a rough ride by Liverpool fans during his visits to Anfield while with City, but he has already been given a warm welcome by supporters, who had been mourning the departure of Luis Suarez.
The Italy forward added: “I didn’t expect it [the warm reception] because whenever I played against Liverpool, the fans weren’t nice with me but that’s normal - it’s football!
“Now that I play for Liverpool, I can see the expectation in people. They’re very happy and that makes me very happy at the same time. To play here for Liverpool excites me, but if you’re an opponent it’s difficult.
“Liverpool are one of the best teams here in England. The football is very good here. It’s a great team with young players, and that’s why I came here.”
Balotelli spent a year-and-a-half at Milan, where he scored 30 goals in 54 appearances.
He has also won the Champions League, three Serie A championships and the FA Cup, plus 33 caps for Italy during which he has scored 13 goals, including the goal that accounted for England in the World Cup.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers told the club’s website: “This transfer represents outstanding value for the club and I think we have done a really smart piece of business here. There is no doubting Mario’s ability; he is a world-class talent and someone who, for such a young age, has vast experience of playing at the very highest level.
“He has scored goals in the Barclays Premier League, in Italy, in the Champions League and for his country at international level. I believe we have the infrastructure, culture and environment to get the best out of him and help him achieve his true potential.
“We are a strong group here, committed to hard work and he will benefit from being around it. I am looking forward to working with him and helping him learn more, improve and progress as a player. I’m sure the supporters will make him feel very welcome.”
The striker has been in Liverpool since Friday to hold talks over the £16m switch from AC Milan. He arrived at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground earlier yesterday to finalise the switch, with his medical being passed last week.
The 24-year-old has been a long-term deal with LFC and becomes the club’s ninth recruit of the summer,” read the statement on Twitter.
Now that the transfer is completed, what exactly are the Anfield faithful gotten themselves into? A football bad boy or just a youngster having some fun?
Across his eight-year career, Balotelli has lived up to his billing as one the sport’s box office characters with a string of misdemeanors on and off the field.
Whether it’s throwing darts at teammates, setting his bathroom on fire or wearing the jersey of his club’s biggest rival on live television, Balotelli is rarely out of the headlines.
Here are some controversies in the career of Liverpool’s new striker:
• Balotelli had already fallen out with Jose Mourinho during his time at Inter Milan when the striker pulled a stunt that further angered his coach.
During a live TV show in March 2010, Balotelli accepted a jersey of Inter’s fierce rival, AC Milan, held it up to chest with a big grin and then decided to put it on.
No wonder Mourinho described Balotelli as “unmanageable.” The player joined Manchester City three months later.
• Balotelli’s reputation as a troublemaker only increased after it emerged in March 2011 that he had thrown a dart at a Man City youth team player, midway through his first season with the club.
No one was hurt in the incident at the club’s training ground and he escaped punishment after being spoken to by City officials.
• After scoring one of City’s goals in a 6-1 win over Manchester United in October 2011, Balotelli lifted up his jersey to reveal a message on a T-shirt underneath. “Why Always Me?” it read.
The message was sparked by a dramatic incident that took place in Balotelli’s house days earlier.
Firefighters were called in the early hours one morning because a firework had set fire to a curtain in his bathroom, sending smoke billowing through the house.
Police said it was an accident and didn’t take any action. Balotelli, who had been messing about with friends, said he had “got unlucky.”
• After a bad tackle by Balotelli on teammate Scott Sinclair in training, City coach Roberto Mancini grabbed his compatriot’s bib in frustration and the pair had to be separated.
The incident was captured by photographers watching a session that was closed to the media.
“Sometimes I am upset with him, but I give him another chance, sure,” Mancini said.
Balotelli was sold by City less than a month later.
• It was reported in October 2010 that Balotelli was detained after driving into a women’s prison in Italian city Brescia without authorization.
Balotelli and his brother, Enock, were questioned by prison officers after trying to enter the prison, the Gazzetta dello Sport reported. The brothers were released without charge.
• Story pieced together from different sources.
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