10 top class players who could be available for free next summer

#1 Mario Balotelli (OGC Nice)

Italy v Poland - UEFA Nations League A

Football’s very own enfant terrible, Mario Balotelli has made as much headlines on the field as he has off it, with the latter being very much more frequent.

Bursting onto the scene as a prodigiously talented youngster at Inter Milan under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, Super Mario showed signs of controversial nature from very early on.

His rap sheet of misdemeanors is long enough to write a book on, from setting his house on fire with fire crackers to driving to an all female prison just to see what it looks like and numerous bust ups with coaches and teammates, Balotelli was considered a ticking time bomb always waiting to explode.

Some of the biggest clubs in the world have taken chances on him with Manchester City, Liverpool and AC Milan among the clubs to have tried their luck in taming the devil inside of the Italian international to no avail.

He arrived French side Nice in 2016 after a disastrous loan spell at Milan, and it seems that being far away from the spotlight has done Balotelli a world of good (or maybe at 28 it’s just him coming into maturity).

He has settled down well in Ligue 1, and has gotten into the most consistent goalscoring form of his career, scoring 33 league goals in 51 appearances for the Allianz Riveira team.

Currently managed by Patrick Vieira (who himself had his own fair share of drama in his playing days), Balotelli has enjoyed a new lease of life so much so that he was recalled to the Italian national team for the first time in four years in May 2018.

Balotelli’s contract expires at the end of the current campaign, and even though he has shown improvements in his off-field demeanors, it remains to be seen whether an elite club would still be willing to take a chance on Balotelli once again.

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