Before the big-money moves, there were big club signings and in the mix of those was Mario Balotelli, dubbed Super Mario.

The talent, the skills, the attention and everything that came with it made up the Super Mario and most especially the controversies.

The 6 ft 3 inches Parlemo born striker began his professional football career at Italian Serie C side, Lumezzane,at the age of 15 and made his first-team debut in on 2 April 2006.

A quest for glory saw him leave Italy for a trial in one of the world’s biggest clubs, Barcelona. AFter the failed trial, inter signed hime on loan afterwards and went on to make him a permanent signing as he scored on his debut against Cagliari in Dec 2007.

From then on, the forward and his #45 jersey started cathing attentions and in November 2008, he ousted Nigeria’s Obafemi Martins (at 18 years and 145 days) as the youngest Inter player (at 18 years and 85 days) to score in the UEFA Champions League when he scored a goal in a 3–3 draw against Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta.

But like Maradona with the drama, Balotelli’s nightmare began in Italy when he was a subject of racial abuse from Juventus fans.

While that may not be the actual reasons for the Balo-drama, the star went on a spree of negatives such as several disciplinary problems, difficult relationship with coach José Mourinho, as well as continued racial abuses from Juventus fans.

In March 2010, he came under heavy criticism from fans after he publicly sported a Milan shirt on the Italian show Striscia la Notizia.

Although he tendered a public apology, the drama continued almost immediately he was recalled for Inter’s April 2010 match against Bologna which he scored a gaol in the 3-0 win, following the end of his row with Mourinho.

Fans almost attacked him after a Champions League semi-final against Barcelona on 20 April 2010 he again caused controversy by throwing his shirt on the ground after the final whistle, following a poor performance.

Balotelli left Inter for Manchester City in a deal worth €21.8 million on 12 August 2010, reuniting with his firner coach Roberto Mancini, leaving his Italian nightmare behind.

Balotelli exchanged squad number with teammate Greg Cunningham so he could continue to wear the number 45 shirt and scored on his debut against Romanian side Politehnica Timișoara in a 1–0 away win in the UEFA Europa League.

An injury delayed his Premier League debut for the Citizens and after a few games since his return, he finally bagged a brace Balotelli (his first and second Premier League goals) on 7 November in a 2–0 away win to West Bromwich Albion.

But a red car in that game was all it took for City to get the dose of Balotelli’s dark side.

After winning the Golden Boy Award On 21 December 2010, Balotelli acknowledged Lionel Messi as the only past winner slightly better than himself, claiming not to know of Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere, the player he narrowly beat to the award.

His disciplinary problems continued despite his success, Manchester rivals would remember him for his “Why Always Me” shirt display in the 6-1 mauling of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team at Old Trafford. He was even more instrumental to the sending off of Johnny Evans in the game.

On 27 November, Balotelli came on as a 65th-minute substitute against Liverpool and was sent off after receiving two yellow cards (something similar happened in Inter) and after much drama, Mancini got fed up with Balo’s drama, suggesting Balotelli would not play any part in the remainder of City’s season and be sold by the club following after receiving a three-match ban following a his bad behaviour, notably during City’s 1–0 loss to Arsenal in April 2012.

Although he did play afterwards and City fans will remember him for assisting Sergio Aguero score the title-winning goal against Queens Park Rangers as they won their first league title since 1968.

Balotelli was handed a two week wages reduction for his poor disciplinary record by City in the season of 2012-13 and he took his #45 jersey to AC Milan for €20 million plus bonuses and add-ons in 2013. Thesale was sanctioned by Mancini for the player’s good.

Balo was the man for the debut and he bagged a brace to mark the start of his Milan career on 3 February 2013 after Silvio Berlusconi signed him for the Rosanerri.

He ended his first season with Milan with 12 goals in 13 appearances as Milan finished third in Serie A and was a subject of racial abuse from Roma fans in the 0-0 draw on 12 May 2013.

In August 2014, Balotelli joined Liverpool for a £16 million transfer fee to replace the outgoing Luis Suárez but the spotlight drifted away from him from then on as he moved back to Milan on a season-long loan n 27 August 2015.

His return to Anfield in the middle of 2016, but with no future under new manager Jürgen Klopp, who chose not to include him on Liverpool’s pre-season tour to the United States or any of the club’s other friendlies.

He thenmoved to French side, Nice for free on 31 August 2016 and before his NIce debut around September, he told Canal Plus that joining Liverpool in the summer of 2014 was the “worst mistake of his life” and that Brendan Rodgers and Jürgen Klopp (the two Liverpool managers during Balotelli’s time at the club) did not make a good impression on him and he did not get along with them.

His time at Nice saw him get red carded after a mistaken second yellow card in a Ligue 1 game by Olivier Thual who later admitted and the decision was annuled by the League’s disciplinary comittee.

He was also the subject of a racial abuse in France but Balotelli finished the season with a career-high 18 league goals and a further 8 goals across all other competitions. His strong form earned him a recall to the Italy national team for the first time since the 2014 FIFA World Cup four years prior.

After signing his third one-year contract extension with Nice on August 20, 2018, Balotelli appeared late and out-of-shape for pre-season training, and did not play the first three league matches due to a court suspension.

A fallout with new coach Patrick Viera saw him terminate his Nice contract on 23 January 2019and signed a contract until the end of the season with Marseille and scored on his debut in the 2-1 loss to Lille after coming in late as a sub.

He scored his fourth league goal on 3 March, an acrobatic volley in a 2–0 home win against Saint-Étienne; he later celebrated the goal by creating an Instagram story on the pitch from his cell phone. On 30 March, he became the first player since Josip Skoblar in the late 1960s to score in each of his first five home games for Marseille in Ligue 1.

On 18 August 2019, Balotelli signed a “multi-year contract” with his hometown club Brescia on a free transfer. He signed for a base salary of €1.5 million before bonuses for one year, with an automatic renewal if the club avoids relegation, reports revealed.

Balotelli’s debut was delayed due to a four-match suspension he received while at Marseille for a rash challenge against Montpellier.

A racial chants from Hellas Verona fans forced him to kick the ball into the crowd in the 54th minute on November 3, 2019. He started to walk off as the match was suspended for several minutes, but was persuaded by players of both sides to stay on the pitch; he later scored in the 85th minute of a 2–1 away loss.

Balotelli scored Brescia’s lone goal in a 1–2 defeat against Lazio on 5 January 2020. During the match and was once again the subject of racist taunts from the opponent’s fan base and afterwards Balotelli took to social media to condemn the attacks.

The Serie A found Lazio supporters guilty of racial abuse but only fined the club €20,000 and they avoided more serious punishment by not having a stadium ban imposed on them.

Brescia was relegated to Serie B at the end of the 2019–20 Serie A season, thus the automatic renewal option of his contract was not activated, and the contract was ultimately terminated after Balotelli repeatedly missed training in June and July 2020.

In November 2020, Balotelli trained with Serie D side Franciacorta while being a free agent before the signing for Monza on a seven-month contract, on December 7, 2020, reuniting with former Milan teammate Kevin-Prince Boateng, head coach Cristian Brocchi, Silvio Berlusconi, and Adriano Galliani.

Balotelli made 16 junior national team appearances for Italy, scoring six goals from 2008-2018, while he bagged 36 apps and 14 goals for the Italian senior national team.

He has made 289 club appearances for all clubs he’s played for from 2006-2020, except Monza, scoring a total of 114 goals so far.