Same old unfortunate story: Is it finally “game over” for Mario Balotelli?

With more red cards than goals in his last six games, has Mario Balotelli blown his final chance at redemption? (Photo: Getty Images)

Things appeared to be starting off so well.

After a difficult summer, in which his agent desperately scrambled to find him a club, Nice opted to take a gamble on Mario Balotelli. And initially, the marriage between Les Aiglons and the enigmatic Italian striker appeared to be starting off well. A roaring start saw him score eight goals in rapid succession, including a brace on his debut in a 3-2 win over Marseille. His attitude also appeared to be better, and there were talks of a potential recall to the Italian national team after missing out on EURO 2016.

Has Balotelli blown his final shot at redeeming himself?

Balotelli does have competition for that striker’s no. 9 spot, as Torino’s Andrea Belotti is having a peach of a season with the Granata, but new coach Giampiero Ventura was reportedly mooting him as another potential option. That may now all be up in the air, if his chances have not already gone up in smoke. Since his roaring start, things have stalled miserably. The goals have dried up, and the red cards have started to accumulate. In fact, including last weekend’s sending off against Lorient, he has now been dismissed three times.

Three times in less than six months in Ligue 1. Apparently, the “investigative” website Football Leaks uncovered a document that guaranteed him a “good behavior bonus” – to the tune of a million pounds if he avoided being sent off more than three times. That was whilst he was with Liverpool, and that clearly indicated that the Reds knew that when AC Milan tried to dump him on them, they were inheriting a host of problems.

Since the start of the new year, Balotelli has netted just once, and now with a suspension slapped on his head, will miss the next few games for Nice. Lucien Favre’s side are in contention for the Champions League and are not out of the title race, but surely, the German tactician, who recognized he was taking a huge gamble on the Italian attacker, would have hoped that Balotelli would have been able to take advantage of Alassane Plea’s injury to stake his claim in the starting XI.

Throughout spells with Liverpool, Manchester City, Milan, and Inter, Balotelli unfortunately never seemed to the right side of things. Nice was supposed to be truly his last shot at redemption in a career that has regrettably failed to take off. The question is, has he already used up his last mulligan? Do-overs are not a given in life, they are an opportunity. And Balotelli has had far more mulligans than most people do.

The catch-phrase “Why always me”? has been attributed to him since he displayed the slogan on a shirt whilst with Manchester City. In order to answer that, Balotelli needs to take a long, introspective look at himself – as he is truly the only one who holds the answers to why things have gone wrong for him in what once appeared to be a promising career. At 26, time has not run out, but he is moving dangerously close to have thrown away a golden opportunity to turn things around – and he needs to change direction and modify his attitude. Pronto.