Mario Balotelli joined Nice on deadline day.
Mario Balotelli has responded to Jamie Carragher’s claims that Nice paid over the odds for him by suggesting he is mentally fine and by playing games he will rediscover his best form, the Mirror report.
The Italy international is without doubt one of football’s most controversial figures, and his career over the past 18 months has become a major talking point for observers and pundits alike.
Balotelli joined Liverpool two summers ago, yet a struggle to adapt at Anfield saw him shipped back to Italy on loan where he failed to make an impression.
Jurgen Klopp evidently saw no place for the striker at Liverpool, while his controversial personality and poor form meant none of Europe’s big clubs were willing to take a gamble on him this summer.
Balotelli eventually moved to Nice this summer on a free transfer, yet even that was deemed a gamble and over the odds by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, who mocked the player via Twitter.
The former Manchester City player, however, responded by claiming his poor recent form has been down to physical problems while assuring reporters that there are no problems from a mental standpoint.
“My career in football is very different from what has been written about me ever since I was 16 so I don’t think I am a risk,” Balotelli explained to the Mirror.
“In the last two years the only problem has been the lack of game time due to physical problems. I don’t think I am a gamble at all – I have to be right physically and to do that, I only have to play. I only need to play regularly – mentally I am fine.”
Balotelli rose to prominence while at Inter Milan and former bosses Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho both dubbed the striker a potential superstar in the making.
Despite relative success at Manchester City where he won the Premier League and with Italy at the European Championships in 2012, Balotelli has so far fallen a long way short of his potential.
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