French newspaper L’Équipe claims Italy striker Mario Balotelli was 100kg when he turned up for Nice training this summer.
The former Milan man was criticised for his performance in the Azzurri’s draw with Poland on Friday, with Juventus legend Zibi Boniek claiming he was overweight.
Now L’Équipe has given credence to those claims, stating that Balotelli weighed 100kg when he turned up late for pre-season training.
French newspaper L’Équipe claims Italy striker Mario Balotelli was 100kg when he turned up for Nice training this summer.
The former Milan man was criticised for his performance in the Azzurri’s draw with Poland on Friday, with Juventus legend Zibi Boniek claiming he was overweight.
Now L’Équipe has given credence to those claims, stating that Balotelli weighed 100kg when he turned up late for pre-season training.
That is a full 12kg above his listed weight of 88kg, and an anonymous staff member at Nice claims he didn’t put in much effort as he thought he’d be leaving.
The newspaper also believes Super Mario was still 6kg overweight when he made his seasonal debut for Les Aiglons against Lyon, though not the 15kg claimed by Boniek.
L’Équipe concludes that Italy CT Roberto Mancini should never have started Balotelli “so early in the season, in this form and with that weight”.