The English Premier League will miss the crazy antics of Mario Balotelli.
The 22-year-old has
returned to Italy after signing a four-and-a-half-year deal with AC
Milan following an action-packed spell with a club he last season helped
end a 44-year wait for the league title.He has struggled to
regain the form that took Italy to the final of Euro 2012, where he was
the tournament's joint top scorer with three goals.
"I didn't start the
season very well with City so I am coming to Milan to revive myself and
to do well," said the Italy striker, who has completed a return to Serie
A in a deal said to be worth around $30 million.
"I have wanted to play
for Milan for a long time, but I was with other teams. When this chance
came along I grabbed it. I hope Milan can become a big club again."
Balotelli was welcomed to
the San Siro on Thursday's
transfer deadline day as Milan's website
reported his arrival with the banners "Yes always you!" and "One of us."
It published a roundup of
Italian newspaper headlines, one of which read: "Mamma and Papa wanted
him home" -- a reference to Balotelli's foster parents Silvia and
Francesco, who adopted him from his Ghanaian immigrant family at the age
of three.
Balotelli went to
Manchester from Milan's city rival Internazionale for $37.8 million in
2010, one of several big-money deals funded by the English club's Abu
Dhabi owners.
He helped City win the
FA Cup that season, its first trophy since 1976, but his time there was
dogged by controversy ever since he crashed his car while en-route to
the training ground just days after his arrival.
Earlier this month, photographs emerged of him having a "training ground bust-up" with manager Roberto Mancini.
Balotelli endured a
love-hate relationship with Mancini, with whom he had previously worked
at Inter Milan and who has acted as a father figure for the player.
Balotelli said he spoke at length with the 48-year-old before farewelling his City teammates at a meal on Tuesday.
"It was a very emotional for me," he told City's website.
"I spoke with Roberto
before I went to speak to the players. We spoke for some time about lots
of things. He was sad, and I was too. But it was a good conversation.
"I love Roberto, he has been very important for my career, and I will always thank him for having trust and faith in me.
"Being at City was an
important part of my life and career. I needed to grow up like a player
and as a person and it has been a very good experience for me."
Balotelli's first
Premier League goals in November 2010 were overshadowed by a red card,
the first of four he would go on to receive during his City career.
Balotelli continued to
catch attention both on and off the pitch, none more so than in October
2011 after a firework was set off in the bathroom of his home.
Emergency services were
called to deal with that incident which occurred the day before he
scored twice in City's 6-1 win at rival Manchester United and revealed
that infamous t-shirt -- and days later he was bizarrely named as the
public face of a fireworks safety campaign.
He broke a 48-hour
curfew to visit a curry restaurant in December 2011 before a game
against Chelsea, which was quickly followed by a training-ground bust-up
with teammate Micah Richards.
Trouble continued to follow Balotelli around and he was given a four-match ban in January 2012 after
He gatecrashed an Inter
Milan press conference in March 2012 when the club was preparing to
unveil new manager Andrea Stramaccioni, which was followed with another
red card in the game at Arsenal.
Balotelli scored just 20
Premier League goals in two years, and his only assist in 54 top-flight
appearances famously led to Sergio Aguero's title-winning strike on the
final day of last season.
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