Why always him? Mario Balotelli goes missing at Brescia as training returns

Some players just seem to court controversy wherever they go, and Brescia’s Mario Balotelli certainly falls into that bracket.

Seemingly always in the headlines for one escapade or another, it now appears he turned up for training with the Serie A outfit for a couple of days and then decided to go missing the next day.

Post-coronavirus pandemic, Football Italia report that the player had been working out with secondary coaches on pitches used for youth teams, and away from the first team.

On Tuesday, however, he went completely AWOL, and this has led to suggestions that his relationship with his hometown club has totally and irretrievably broken down.

A player with a chequered history, Balotelli, nevertheless, has always been a mercurial talent. Unfortunately, for a large part of his career he has chosen to court controversy.

As such, he’s never really made it to the elite level that only a few special players inhabit.