Mario Balotelli is back in football.
The 34-year-old former Manchester City and Liverpool forward has signed for Serie A strugglers Genoa.
The ex-Italy striker had been free agent since leaving Turkish club Adana Demirspor this summer.
Genoa will be ‘Super Mario’s’ 12th club, so to mark the occasion we have compiled a list of some of his best and worst moments.
After an unsuccessful trial with Barcelona aged 15, Balotelli was signed by Inter Milan in 2007.
He won Serie A with them in 2007–08 and 2008–09, before scoring the winner against Juventus in the 2009-10 Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
That season, under Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan won Italian football’s first Treble – and Balotelli lifted his third Serie A title aged 20.
In August 2010 Balotelli joined Manchester City from Inter in a deal worth £24m.
He scored his first Premier League goal in November against West Bromwich Albion, but was sent off in the same match after a clash with Youssouf Mulumbu.
At the end of his first season he helped Manchester City win the FA Cup, ending a 35-year trophy drought.
By the spring of 2011 Balotelli had garnered a reputation as a fantastic footballer, but a problematic personality.
Having already been sent off for his new club twice and crashed his car, the striker threw a dart at a youth-team player.
Balotelli was spoken to by club officials, but escaped sanction over the training-ground incident in which no-one was hurt.
On occasion at Manchester City, Balotelli’s attitude on the pitch was lacking.
During a pre-season friendly against LA Galaxy in July 2011, Balotelli was substituted after he backheeled wide when through on goal.
“I hope this is a lesson,” said City manager Roberto Mancini, who denied that Balotelli might have thought he was offside.
“If you [Balotelli] are serious, you can play 90 minutes. If not, you can come and sit by me on the bench.”
In October 2011 emergency crews were called to the Italian’s Cheshire house when a firework was lit in his bathroom in the early hours of the morning.
Four firefighters arrived wearing breathing apparatus and used two hoses to douse the flames, but police said it was an accident and decided not to take any action.
A few days after the fireworks incident Balotelli was in the headlines for all the right reasons as he scored Manchester City’s opener in a 6-1 win over rivals Manchester United.
He celebrated by lifting his shirt to reveal, printed on an undershirt, the phrase “Why always me?”
Later that season he assisted Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal against Queen’s Park Rangers deep into stoppage time on the last day of the season.
Balotelli had a brilliant Euro 2012, scoring against the Republic of Ireland in the group stage, converting a penalty in a shootout win over England, and hitting two against Germany in the semi-finals.
Italy lost the final 4-0 to Spain, but Balotelli was named in the Team of the Tournament and finished as joint-top scorer.
In January 2013, after scoring 30 goals in 80 games for Manchester City, he joined AC Milan for £19m.
He had an instant impact with his new side, scoring 12 goals in 13 games and helping them qualify for the Champions League.
In December 2013 he scored a free-kick that was clocked at 68mph.
In August 2014 Liverpool signed Balotelli for £16m to replace Luis Suarez.
But the Italian’s move to the Reds did not work out and he later said joining Liverpool was the worst decision of his life.
He was once criticised by manager Brendan Rodgers for swapping shirts with opponent Pepe at half-time during a Champions League match with Real Madrid.
After four goals in 28 appearances he was loaned back to AC Milan, before joining French club Nice on a free transfer in 2016.
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