Liverpool flop Mario Balotelli to make comeback after 4 months without a club

Former Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli is back: the for the rest of the season.

Balotelli's team spent 20 days securing the move. He will earn between €400,000 and €500,000 (approximately $433,000 to $541,000). Genoa announced the deal with a "Super Mario" themed announcement video.

spent , scoring seven times in 10 league starts (16 appearances). He was without a club for the past four months and will return to Serie A for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

The nomadic striker has accrued 38 Italy caps and 52 Serie A goals in a career dating back to 2007. Back then, he was a fresh-faced teenager breaking through for Roberto Mancini's side.

Once upon a time, Balotelli was lined up by Liverpool as a key replacement for the departing in the 2014 summer transfer window.

The Italian joined Brendan Rodgers's side for £16 million ($21 million) and featured 20 times in his one season with the club, scoring just a solitary goal.

Considering he produced such poor results for the Reds, how did Balotelli earn such a pricy fee in the first place? As a teenager, the Italian was one of the most highly regarded teenagers in Europe under Mancini at Inter.

Mario Balotelli is back in Serie A

Genoa with an announcement video for the ages.
pic.twitter.com/7b7SlUTAW4

— F⚽️⚽️TBALL ShIrTALIA (@FutbolShIrTALIA) October 28, 2024

He earned a move to Mancini's Manchester City in 2010 and played a key part in helping the Citizens win their first Premier League crown in 2012, assisting Sergio Aguero's title-winning goal.

After a brief stint with AC Milan (and bombing out with Liverpool), Balotelli returned to form playing for Ligue 1 outfit Nice. He scored 18 league goals in 2017/18 - tied for his most ever in a club campaign - and returned to the Italian national team, now managed by Mancini.

So why is Balotelli joining Genoa? The Italian outfit sit 18th in Serie A with just six points through eight games, and manager Alberto Giordano was looking to beef up his depleted forward line.

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The club loaned star striker Albert Gudmundsson to Fiorentina this summer and key offseason import Vithina - bought for €16.00 million ($20 million) from Marseille - is out injured. So too is experienced winger Junior Messias.

In their most recent 3-0 defeat to Lazio, Giordano started on-loan striker Andrea Pinamonti and midfielder Morten Thorsby up front in a 4-2-2-2. Talented but raw 17-year-old Jeff Ekhator featured off the bench.

Balotelli could immediately be in the mix for a starting spot. “I am pumped. I don’t want to talk much. I just want to get started,” he said on Monday. “I’ll give it my all."