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Balotelli - The Prodigal Son is back...again

Italy’s most famous prodigal son is back home, again, promising to do better this time. But can he really change?

Just one year after he left Italian football for the second time, moving from AC Milan to Liverpool, the ever newsworthy Mario Balotelli is back with AC Milan, on a straight loan deal which reportedly sees Liverpool continue to pay approx. 35% of his €4 million euro per annum salary.

It is only stating the obvious to suggest that at the age of 25, this could represent a last chance at the highest level for Balotelli, a player whose physical talent has never been in doubt but one whose “temperament” has often failed to convince team mates, coaches and fans alike.

In a lengthy interview with sports daily, “Gazzetta Dello Sport”, Balotelli appears to acknowledge the gravity of this moment in his career, saying: “I’m grateful to Milan because to tell you the truth I didn’t expect them to take me back…This is the second chance not many get and I am lucky that Milan is giving me that.”

Balotelli claims to be a changed, more mature person not so much because of his relatively disappointing periods in the Premier League but because of the recent death of his (adoptive) father, Franco, and the experience of being a father to his two-year-old daughter Pia.

“Certain events make you grow up,” he says. “I’m talking about the joy of being a father and the pain of losing your own father…”

In relation to his disappointing season with Liverpool, Balotelli offers no excuses, saying: “I accept that I made mistakes but the (tactical) system used by (Liverpool manager) Rodgers did not suit my characteristics. Then, in the beginning I missed some easy chances, then I missed some more difficult chances, then I was a bit unlucky and then I got injured…In short, it was a mess but I never protested, I accepted the manager’s decisions…”

Balotelli says he first knew he was on his way back to Milan last Saturday when his powerful agent, Mino Raiola, rang him up and told him to pack his bags and get on a plane to Milan.

In Italy, the aspect of his return that has arguably provoked most interest has concerned a clause in his new contract relative to discipline and behaviour.

“I have been asked to be more sober in my look and to follow the (more elegant) Milan style,” he admits. “I will adapt to this without problems. I will stick to my usual haircut, nothing exaggerated.

“It’s true that I wear this big, very obvious medallion but do you know who gave it to me? My mother…and on it is written, ‘Professionalism, Humility, Hard Work'”

So then, is the talented Balotelli about to turn over a new leaf?

Professionals such as former Liverpool player, Jamie Carragher, and former AC Milan player, Croat Zvonimir Boban, will take a deal of persuading. Carragher claims that Liverpool made a mistake in buying the player one year ago whilst the other day Boban called his return to Milan “absurd”.

To put it mildly, Balotelli clearly has a credibility deficit and not just with Messers Carragher and Boban. This lastest Milan move may be a mistake, perhaps helped along by the shock of their Serie A opening day 2-0 loss last weekend to Fiorentina. On the other hand, it might mark a Balotelli renaissance.

Some of his words and thoughts seem to indicate as much - for example, when he speaks of his desire to play his way back into the Italian team prior to next summer’s European Championships in France.

“Before he died (in July this year), one of my father’s last wishes was to see me play for Italy again,” he says. “I owe it also to him”