Premier League: What now for unwanted Mario Balotelli?

Mino Raiola has been a busy man this summer. After Jose Mourinho seemingly misplaced Jorge Mendes’s phone number for that of his super-agent rival, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and, most theatrically, Paul Pogba, have all been unveiled as Manchester United players. It is the dawn of a new era at Old Trafford and Raiola, much to the benefit of his own bank balance, has played a central role.

But the agent who moaned on Twitter about the media’s “bla bla bla” - conveniently turned into an adidas advertising campaign featuring Pogba - isn’t finished yet. Just 30 miles from Manchester down the M62, one Raiola client, who previously attracted more attention than any of United’s new recruits, has been left in limbo at Liverpool. The hard work of finding Mario Balotelli a new club is only just beginning.

After a year back at AC Milan on loan, Balotelli has been told he has no future at Anfield by Jurgen Klopp. He has no immediate future at Milan either. The striker scored just once in 20 Serie A appearances last season, claiming the opening goal in a 3-2 win at Udinese back in September 2015. The next match, a 1-0 defeat to Genoa, was the last time Balotelli was seen on the pitch until January after requiring surgery on a groin injury.

When he returned familiar questions arose regarding his motivation. At one stage he was booed by his own supporters and, after finding the net on only two more occasions - both coming against third division side Alessandria in a two-legged Coppa Italia semi-final - Balotelli was left out of Antonio Conte’s squad for Euro 2016. How Italy could have done with his penalty-taking expertise when Simone Zaza stepped up against Germany.

Milan sacked Sinisa Mihajlovic in April and eventually finished seventh in Serie A. Balotelli hoped to hang on at the San Siro despite his struggles, telling Gazzetta dello Sport: "In terms of my future I want to stay with Milan because I was not happy at Liverpool and don't want to go back.”

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His wish has not been granted and, while Raiola has been preoccupied with Pogba, a host of potential suitors have come and gone.

Newly-promoted Pescara paid him compliments; Crotone put in a call to Raiola before all went quiet. Sampdoria expressed an interest, Ajax made enquiries, and Besiktas have so far been unable to decide between Balotelli and fellow Liverpool reject Christian Benteke.

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A return to Inter Milan had been mooted before Roberto Mancini’s dismissal - which followed a 6-1 thrashing by Tottenham - while the close of the Chinese transfer window has postponed speculation of a move to the Far East.

“I'd go to Chievo,” Balotelli was quoted as saying in Corriere di Verona this week, but wages are proving to be a proverbial stumbling block. This wouldn’t be a problem in the Premier League, of course, yet despite West Ham and Crystal Palace both launching high-profile striker pursuits, the 25-year-old hasn’t once cropped up in conversation. His spells at Liverpool and Manchester City are all too keenly remembered.

There was a time when it would have been a good thing to be linked with Balotelli; the sort of move that, regardless of its challenges, would have excited supporters and appeased rampant demands for transfer activity. This was the gamble Brendan Rodgers was willing to take two years after Balotelli’s stock had peaked with his brace against Germany in Italy’s Euro 2012 semi-final victory - the same summer Pogba left England for Juventus.

But now, two years on from his £16m move to Anfield, Balotelli’s value and appeal have plummeted. The sideshow has enjoyed too much time centre stage; two league goals since April 2014 is a pitiful return from a striker whose talent has essentially been on sabbatical.

When Balotelli arrived at Liverpool, two months after scoring the winning goal for Italy against England at the World Cup, he was still regarded as a player with enormous potential. After making what should be seen as a successful exit from Manchester City to AC Milan, he just needed the right opportunity.

But it is the same story now in 2016. “In life it is never too late. If you think Mario makes me despair, you are wrong because his life has improved a lot and now only needs to have the right opportunity,” Raiola told Corriere Dello Sport in July. “Of course, he also needs a little bit of luck which, in recent seasons, he has not had.”

Even football has a limited supply of second chances.

Pogba, or perhaps more appropriately Manchester United, have found theirs this summer with the completion of the Frenchman’s world-record transfer. Following his premature farewell from Old Trafford, the midfielder has shown the self-motivation required to reach the very top of the game. In Balotelli’s case that quality has too often been absent, the forward seemingly hoping to live off his early hype until retirement.

A proposed move to Chievo should prompt a period of sober reflection. A simple cost-benefit analysis has warned various interested parties to steer well clear. The circus of setting off fireworks in his bathroom, swapping shirts at half time against Real Madrid when Liverpool were trailing 3-0, and a disciplinary record to make Lee Cattermole blush can largely be overlooked. In the end his undoing has been a lack of application lamented by all of his managers.

In contrast, that has never been a problem for Pogba. He left Manchester because he was determined to make the most of his talent and has returned for the same reason. That is why he is now the first name in Raiola’s phonebook. As for Balotelli, a long summer is dragging on.