A player once seemingly capable of generating headlines for his performances off the pitch as much as on, it could be a welcome return to the Premier League for former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.
The transfer window has closed for Premier League clubs this summer, the Nice forward may still well be making a return to the English top tier after a period of journeying around Europe, with West Ham reportedly interested in bringing the Italian to the capital in January.
Olympique de Marseille have been frequently rumoured to be eyeing up a bid for Balotelli, who seemingly signed off his Nice career by walking the perimeter of the pitch at the Allianz Riveira following his final home performance, despite being contracted at the club for another year.
With his contract expiring in June 2019, Ligue 1 rivals Marseille were the favourites to procure his signature; frontrunners in a race that included Roma and Balotelli’s former club AC Milan.
The distinct possibility of him playing for OM was further augmented with their rejection of Tottenham Hotspur wantaway forward Fernando Llorente, and the unreliability of current strikers Valere Germain and Konstantinos Mitroglou, who didn’t have the most convincing of seasons despite Les Phoceens progressing to the Europa League Final.
However, with L’Equipe now reporting that negotiations have broken down between the two clubs, with ‘a gap having been widened between the Marseille president, Jacques-Henri Eyraud, and the tandem Jean-Pierre Rivère-Julien Fournier’, the French publication states that the Hammers will move for Balotelli when the winter transfer window reopens.
Balotelli has enjoyed- and furthermore allowed us to enjoy- a tumultuous career. Once deemed ‘unmanageable’ by Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese’s predecessor Roberto Mancini would be the man to bring the then 19-year-old to England from Internazionale San Siro.
Manchester City fans laughably thought of him as their answer to Eric Cantona, but attitude problems and consistency issues on the pitch lead to his exit after three years.
He was to return to the Premier League after a season of taunting his former club at the San Siro by playing for fierce rivals AC Milan.
Back in Italy, arguably the most successful single season of his personal career attracted the attention of Brendan Rodgers and Liverpool, recently thwarted by Manchester City for the Premier League title under the stewardship of Manuel Pellegrini.
Should a bid by Marseille, or even a return to Italy, not be forthcoming, Balotelli could well line up at the London Stadium for the Chilean manager, who replaced David Moyes at the helm of the Hammers this summer.
The 28 year-old Balotelli- who it is believed would cost around the €10million mark- would be competing for a starting berth with recent purchase Lucas Perez, former cross-city rival Javier Hernandez, and fellow ex-Red, the perpetually injured Andy Carroll.
News of a move amongst the claret & blue fanbase may be greeted lacklusterly. With knowledge that Balotelli has never made more than 90 appearances for any one club, it would be wise to be of the opinion that any move would smell distinctly of a lack of permanence.
At Nice however over the past two years, the Italian has been resurgent; garnering respect from an adoring fanbase and modest appraisal from critics. Since moving to Nice in 2016, Balotelli has rewarded with a return of 43 goals in 66 appearances. In his inaugural year at the club, Balotelli helped them achieve an unprecedented third place position and qualification for the Champions League; behind only high-spending PSG and champions Monaco.
Whilst the statistics of Balotelli’s improvement away from English shores speak for themselves, and the possibility of acquiring the player on the cusp of potentially reaching his peak on a free, lurking at the back of most West Ham fans mind, however, may be the opportunity for retribution for OM’s reciprocal flirtation with their one-time star man Dmitri Payet which eventually saw him leave East London back to the Stade Velodrome.
In another twist in the tale, it wouldn’t be entirely implausible to have his head turned by Nice’s recent most managerial appointment and actually remain in the Alpes-Maritimes; Balotelli enjoyed the company of legend Patrick Vieira at both Inter Milan and Manchester City in the latter’s twilight years of his playing career before moving into management.
A swift-turnaround would consolidate the distinct maturity Balotelli has been demonstrating in recent years.
