Mario Balotelli could be poised to join line-up of Premier League rejects in Switzerland

Published 11:02 25 Aug 2016 BST

Tom Victor

Mario Balotelli could be poised to join line-up of Premier League rejects in Switzerland

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Liverpool have been trying in vain to rid themselves of Mario Balotelli, but have been unsuccessful so far.

Italian clubs have decided against a move, while things got seriously weird when the Mino Raiola connection saw La Gazzetta Dello Sport decide he might be on his way to Manchester United. But a big plus has arrived with the news that the Italy international could be on his way to Switzerland. More specifically, FC Sion are interested, according to Swiss publication TicinoNews. You may remember hearing about Sion in the past, most notably when they were kicked out of Europe for fielding five (yes, five!) ineligible players during a Europa League win over Celtic back in 2011. They famously signed Rino Gattuso and Kyle Lafferty the following season, but these days they seem to be a hiding place for players shunned by Premier League clubs - perfect for Balotelli, some might say. So, which former top-flight 'stars' are now plying their trade at Stade Tourbillon?

Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Reto Ziegler Known affectionately by Tottenham fans as 'That blond left-back who wasn't Erik Edman', Swiss international Ziegler played 35 times during his time in North London. He also spent a year on loan with Wigan under Paul Jewell, but no one remembers that - come on now.

Elsad Zverotić The Montenegrin international was part of the Fulham 2013/14 squad which experts have described as 'weird as fuck'. After playing under Martin Jol, René Meulensteen, Felix Magath and Kit Symons in the space of just over 18 months, he left by mutual consent in 2015 and now captains Sion.

Theofanis Gekas Gekas was loaned in by Portsmouth manager Tony Adams (yeah, that wasn't just a bad dream) back in 2009, and joined Sion in the middle of last season following spells with *deep breath* Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha Berlin, Eintracht Frankfurt, Samsunspor, Levante, Akhisar Belediyespor (twice), Konyaspor and Eskişehirspor. Sure, no photos exist of him in a Pompey or a Sion shirt, but he's listed on the official website so it must be true.

Geoffrey Mujangi Bia Apparently played a few Premier League games for Wolves. Yeah, we had no idea either, but look at the photo. That's clearly him in a Wolves shirt, and we're not *that* good at photoshop.