Italian striker Mario Balotelli returned to Serie A, joining Genoa in October 2024, but his move to Marassi didn’t work out: here’s why.
Balotelli joined Genoa as a free agent in October after weeks of negotiations that involved the Rossoblu ex-coach Alberto Gilardino.
The 2006 Italy World Cup winner pushed hard to convince Balotelli to move to Marassi, but he was sacked only after a few days after Balotelli completed his free transfer.
Just to make things worse, the Grifone appointed French legend Patrick Vieira as their new coach. The former midfielder had already coached Balo at Nice, but the pair was never on good terms, leading Balotelli to claim that he had left the French club because of Vieira.
Balotelli has only collected 56 minutes of football at Marassi, making just six appearances.
Vieira downplayed the striker’s importance in the team after a draw against Lecce in January.
“Mario is an important player, like Sabelli and Vogliacco, who were not introduced,” said the former midfielder.
“We have other players on the bench. We are a team, and we are all important. I made this decision today; tomorrow, it may change. The club and the team are the most important things. If we understand this, we’ll be doing important things like today.”
Vieira has managed to bring Genoa far from the drop zone, confirming predictions from Betway Sports experts who didn’t see the Grifone among the weakest teams in the league this season.
Genoa have collected five wins, five draws and just three defeats in 13 Serie A games under Vieira.
