Besides his inconsistent play, Balotelli is known for his wild character. He was known for breaking curfew to visit a strip club, and he was fined $400,000 during his time at Manchester City. His car was also impounded 27 times in total.
That is not all. He was fined $300,000 for throwing darts at youth players in the dressing room. When a police officer stopped him in his Maserati, Balotelli had £25,000 on the passenger seat; asked why, he simply replied that he was rich.
Then there was the night he almost set his house on fire with fireworks, after which he became the face of a fireworks safety campaign.
On the other hand, Mario Balotelli behaves like this partly because he is simply a different kind of person. He has been through things most people cannot imagine. He survived a life-threatening illness as a baby, and he has long faced racist abuse from fans, which is never easy to live with. Behind the image of a troublemaker there is a good person.
This story is about the “hidden” things in Mario Balotelli’s house. The forward loves animals. Having just returned to Liverpool for pre-season training, he posted pictures of himself with his ducks on social media. It was not the first time he had shown his love of animals: Mario once tried to bring his pig, named Super, to England, but was not allowed to.
Balotelli’s name should not be struck off the football map just yet. The striker had to prove his worth again, and Jurgen Klopp looked likely to give him a chance. Mario Balotelli has a strong character and could be back to his best before long. If not at Liverpool, there were plenty of good teams ready to take the striker.
The career behind the headlines
Balotelli was born in Palermo on 12 August 1990 to Ghanaian immigrants. Because his birth family could not pay for the health care he needed, he went into foster care at the age of three with Silvia and Francesco Balotelli in Concesio, near Brescia, whose surname he later took.
On the pitch, the record behind the headlines is substantial. He joined Inter in 2006 and was part of the side that won the treble in 2010. Manchester City signed him in August 2010 for a reported €21.8 million; he was named man of the match in the 2011 FA Cup final, and in 2012 he set up Sergio Aguero’s injury-time winner that clinched the Premier League title. At Euro 2012 he scored both goals in Italy’s 2-1 semi-final win over Germany.
After moving to Milan on 31 January 2013, he scored 12 goals in 13 appearances in the rest of that season. Liverpool signed him in August 2014 for a reported £16 million as a replacement for Luis Suarez, but he scored only 4 goals in 28 appearances in his first season at Anfield.
What came next
The chance at Liverpool never came. On 31 August 2016 Balotelli left for Nice on a free transfer and a one-year deal, and the move revived his scoring: he had reached 10 Ligue 1 goals by 10 March 2017, including two against Monaco. Later spells followed at Marseille, from January 2019, then Brescia, the club near the town where he grew up, from August 2019, Monza from December 2020, Adana Demirspor in Turkey from 2021, Sion in Switzerland in 2022-23, and Adana Demirspor again from 2023.
Questions people ask
Where was Mario Balotelli born?
Mario Balotelli was born in Palermo, Sicily, on 12 August 1990, to Ghanaian parents. At the age of three he went into foster care with the Balotelli family in Concesio, near Brescia, and later took their surname.
What was Balotelli's role in Manchester City's 2012 title win?
Balotelli provided the assist for Sergio Aguero's injury-time winner that clinched the 2011-12 Premier League title for Manchester City. A year earlier he had been named man of the match in City's 2011 FA Cup final win.
Where did Balotelli go after Liverpool?
Balotelli joined Nice on a free transfer on 31 August 2016, on a one-year deal. He later played for Marseille, Brescia, Monza, Adana Demirspor and Sion.
Why did Liverpool sign Mario Balotelli?
Liverpool signed Balotelli in August 2014 for a reported £16 million as a replacement for Luis Suarez. He had scored 12 goals in 13 appearances for Milan after joining them on 31 January 2013, but he managed only 4 goals in 28 appearances in his first season at Anfield.