There was a time when Mario Balotelli was the best young striker in the world.
Having broken through at Inter Milan, Manchester City splashed out close to £20m to bring him to the Etihad. But while he certainly had talent, his off-the-field antics and his penchant for getting suspended meant that even Roberto Mancini lost faith in him.
It looked like the Italian striker might turn things around in the summer of 2012 when he put together the best run of games in his short career at the European Championships, including an absolute clinic against the high-flying Germans in the semi-final in which he looked like a man playing against children as he ran the future World Champions ragged.
But then he lost his way. By the time Christmas had rolled around, he was completely out of favour with once-mentor Mancini and shipped off to AC Milan. Since then he returned to the Premier League with Liverpool, only to be loaned back to Milan after failing to establish himself at Anfield.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Now he takes the biggest step back in his career as he moves to Nice - a team who finished last season as the fourth best team in France. And Liverpool fans are delighted to see the back of him.
Liverpool's investment in the forward worked out as roughly £4m per goal, and Jamie Carragher summed up the emotion of a city when
he declared that Nice getting Balotelli on a free transfer was 'still paying over the odds'.
Unsurprisingly, the Italian - who is not exactly renowned for his humility - was not too impressed by such comments and sought to defend himself on Twitter.
Describing the Liverpool legend as a 'bad player' but a 'wonderful hater', Balotelli mockingly shared a photo of a trophy with an image of his infamous shirtless celebration on it and carrying the title 'best hater'.
https://twitter.com/FinallyMario/status/772114549424189441
We can't wait to see how Carragher reacts, although he might be too busy trying to figure out a way to get back at Gary Neville to care.
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