5 active world-class footballers who smoke

#3 Mario Balotelli

Mario Balotelli during his Brescia Calcio days

Mario Balotelli could have been one of the finest strikers of his generation. He seemed well on course to becoming that a decade ago. But the Italian currently plies his trade for Turkish Super Lig club Adana Demirspor.

Balotelli has been caught smoking a number of times. He was caught smoking minutes before his Brescia debut against Juventus. Balotelli was snapped smoking a cigarette during his extremely underwhelming spell at Liverpool prior to that as well.

The striker is infamous for his devil-may-care attitude, which many believe is just an indication of Balotelli's lack of discipline. He has played for six different clubs since 2015 and has never really been able to hit the heights expected of him.

#2 Gianluigi Buffon

Bologna FC v Juventus - Serie A

Well, you could excuse the goalkeeper for taking a drag or two every once in a while, right? After all, he doesn't need to do a lot of running and spends a large amount of his time on the pitch all by himself.

Gianluigi Buffon is one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. The World Cup winner is 43-years-old but is still playing. He is currently captaining his childhood club Parma who are presently in Serie B.

Buffon has been snapped smoking multiple times. But it doesn't seem to have done any damage to the legendary goalkeeper's career as he is still going strong at the age of 43. Rarely do players play past 40 let alone perform at a high level. But Gigi Buffon has been doing exactly that.

#1 Marco Verratti

Italy Training Session & Press Conference

Italian midfielder Marco Verratti is one of the best in the business at his position. The diminutive central midfielder is agile, technically adept and is one of the most creative playmakers today.

The 29-year-old has been lauded throughout his career for his sheer natural ability. His constant injury issues have played a hand in him not attaining legendary status. But there's also an argument that Verratti's work-ethic and lifestyle away from the pitch has contributed to that.

Speaking to speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, French football journalist Julien Laurens discussed Verratti's lifestyle choices after PSG's win against Manchester United in 2019. The midfielder performed brilliantly in the game but it forced Laurens to ask what he could achieve if he had the work-ethic of, say, Cristiano Ronaldo.

"For me Verratti, because he was not fit, because he was not 100 percent, because he's only played one game in the last month.

"Last week he was partying until 6am for Neymar's birthday, because he smokes, because he drinks because he's out almost every day of the week. When he comes out with a game like this tonight at Old Trafford I think it's just sensational.

"I think if he had the lifestyle of Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, the work ethic of him, I don't where he would be in terms of world-class midfielders. But the ability he has combined with the lifestyle that he has at the moment and yet still being able to put out a performance like tonight is just incredible."