Mario Balotelli’s good season at Nice is said to have provided several avenues for a transfer, but his agent says the player may be tempted to remain at the club.
Mario Balotelli’s very promising career seemed to be on a downward trend when he arrived in France’s Ligue 1. The player had certainly made an impression for himself at Inter and Manchester City, but disciplinary issues threatened to derail his progress.
However, the striker found his form at Nice. He managed to score 15 times in the last season of Ligue 1 and generally showed to be one of the league’s best players. It was reported that several teams, including Olympique Marseille and Borussia Dortmund, were ready to begin negotiations to transfer the Italian forward.
Football agent Mino Raiola, who readers may remember from our articles concerning goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, says that Balotelli could remain at Nice for at least one more season. The main reason provided by the agent is that the 26-year-old hopes to repeat the good performances of last year and to earn a call-up for the national team. The final prize could indeed be a place in Italy’s squad for the 2018 World Cup hosted by Russia.
“Tomorrow [Monday] I will see Nice,” Raiola told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “It’s right he stays with [Nice coach Lucien] Favre, if he [scores] 20 goals, he deserves [to go to the] World Cup. But I don’t know what Ventura has in his head.”
Of course, we will need to wait for a confirmation. Raiola is quoted as having told Bild earlier this month that “Balotelli will play for Dortmund.” While no updates about that suggested transfer have been provided since, it is expected that a move to Dortmund would be determined by the possible departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The club is said to be negotiating a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain. Surely there is bound to be plenty of speculation regarding transfers during this summer break. We can only wait patiently for the confirmation and subsequent press conferences.
Surely there is bound to be plenty of speculation regarding transfers during this summer break. We can only wait patiently for the confirmation and the subsequent press conferences.
