'I left Liverpool after what Jurgen Klopp said - I told him he wouldn't see me again'
Mario Balotelli washed his hands of Jurgen Klopp after being left unhappy with what proved to be his only conversation with the then-Liverpool boss
Whether you love or loathe him, life is never dull with Mario Balotelli.
Still only 34, the combustible Italian is still playing, now in Turkey with Adana Demirspor. In England, he is best remembered for his chaotic spell with Manchester City, where he had a hand in their dramatic Premier League title triumph in 2011/12.
There were more moments of controversy though and he was once fined two weeks’ wages by City for his poor disciplinary record. He also got into spats with teammates, sometimes even during matches. Off the pitch, firefighters were once called to his Cheshire pad, where fireworks had been set off with a curtain being set alight.
When he left City in 2013 to return to Milan – with AC rather than former club Inter – it was assumed his time in English football was up. Yet in August 2014, Balotelli was back in the Premier League when Liverpool, then managed by Brendan Rodgers, signed him to replace another controversial player, Luis Suarez, who had left for Barcelona.
The move didn’t work out there as he scored just four goals in his one full season at Anfield before a loan move back to AC Milan. When he returned to Merseyside in the summer of 2016, Jurgen Klopp was in charge and the relationship between manager and player was short and sharp.
According to Balotelli, the pair had just one conversation before he was on the move again. He told Sky Italia in 2016: “Klopp doesn't know me. I spoke to him once, he told me to go somewhere else, work hard and then return. So I said goodbye to them, and that we wouldn't be seeing each other again.”
Instead of another return to Milan, Balotelli joined Ligue 1 side Nice. Reflecting on his time at Liverpool and AC Milan, he maintained he was blameless: “It wasn't anyone's fault. They weren't ideal environments for me. I didn't make mistakes in terms of my game or my behaviour, but I did get injured and that's not something I can control.”
YOUR TURN! What's your favourite Mario Balotelli moment? Tell us in the comments section.
Balotelli said he was drawn to Nice partly by the climate in the south of France. He explained: “At the start, I chose Nice for the climate, I wanted to be in a relaxing but beautiful place, where it's difficult to get out the wrong side of the bed. The other reason I chose Nice is because there's a decent group of young players. We're all about the same age.”
He left Nice for Marseille in 2019 before spells with Brescia, Monza, Demirspor and Sion before returning to Demirspor, who finished 12th in the Super Lig last season.
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