Everton were linked with a shock move to bring former Liverpool flop Mario Balotelli back to the Premier League – and Mino Raiola could make it happen.
The prospect of Mario Balotelli signing for Everton would have been laughed off by some sections of the Toffees support.
The madcap Italian is not only one of the most divisive players in modern European football – but he also flopped spectacularly at Merseyside rivals Liverpool, scoring one Premier League goal after his £16 million move from AC Milan.
But Balotelli moving to Goodison Park might not just be idle paper talk. Calciomercato claimed back in December that Everton were keeping a close eye on the 27-year-old during the best season of his career at Ligue 1 side Nice.
And, earlier this week, his outspoken agent Mino Raiola confirmed that Balotelli, who has 22 goals this season, was in talks with a number of English teams with his contract at Nice due to expire this summer, as reported by The Mirror.
And now, just to add further meat to the bones, Sky Sports claims that Raiola could have a big part to play at Everton next season. He is the agent of PSV technical director Marcel Brands, who is expected to become the Toffees’ new talent-spotter by the end of the month.
Everton’s majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri believes a Brands-Raiola partnership could turn his Champions League dream into a reality.
Now, the report suggests that Raiola could end up playing a part in Everton’s recruitment – and he has an out-of-contract client seemingly open to a return to England. Balotelli to Everton has never seemed so possible.
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