Mario Balotelli has finally broken his silence after a summer of confusion. “It was my choice to stay with Nice. Patrick Vieira changed 80 per cent of my decision.”
The striker refused to attend pre-season training and went for a medical to Olympique Marseille, but the two clubs couldn’t agree terms.
Now the Italy international has spoken to OGCNice TV to give his side of the story.
Mario Balotelli has finally broken his silence after a summer of confusion. “It was my choice to stay with Nice. Patrick Vieira changed 80 per cent of my decision.”
The striker refused to attend pre-season training and went for a medical to Olympique Marseille, but the two clubs couldn’t agree terms.
Now the Italy international has spoken to OGCNice TV to give his side of the story.
“When we finished last year, it was my intention to leave, the President and the club knew it. Maybe towards the end of the season last year, I didn’t want to be here.
“It was because of the atmosphere has always been good, my life here was good, the club was good, teammates were good, I find myself very good here. I have one more year, so in the end I decided to stay.
“It is my choice, because first of all nobody tells me what to do. I do what I feel and I do what I want. I respect everybody, but the final decision in my career is always mine. I have people who give me advice, but in the end, it’s my decision.
“I stayed because in the end I preferred to stay. I had five propositions, concrete ones. I wait, wait, wait, wait and in the end decide to stay, but I can guarantee you I could’ve left very easily.
“I spoke to the President and Patrick. The way they spoke to me and the proposition they made was good. I spoke to my agent and said let’s do one more year.
“Maybe to change now wouldn’t be stupid, because maybe I wanted to go before, but when I thought about it, maybe it was better to finish where I’m sure that I find myself very well. It’s a risk to change now when I only have one more year.”
The arrival of new Coach Vieira inevitably made a big difference to Balotelli’s decision.
“That’s for sure. That changed 80 per cent of my decision.”
Marseille were openly courting SuperMario and he reportedly had a medical with them.
“I had proposition from Marseille, I spoke with them, I have a good relation with the Coach of Marseille and they were one of the five clubs.
“I don’t know why only Marseille came out, as I never spoke about that. I had a proposition from them, just as I did from other teams.”
Considering the bitter rivalry between Nice and Marseille, Balo’s supporters weren’t happy with the speculation.
“I look at my career, to be honest, I cannot worry about what supporters say. I am sorry if they are sad, but that’s part of my job and I can’t do much about that. All I can say is that when I am in Nice, I give everything for Nice, but one day I won’t be here. That’s normal.
“I understand the supporter’s way of thinking, but they have to understand me too. For example, Nice are not in Europe this year and Marseille are, that’s one of the reasons why I considered them as an option. I look at what is best and in the end I chose to stay here.
“I had a very big offer from China and I said no, not for now. I love to play football and my objective is to have two very important years, as I want to play in the European Championship and that would be difficult if I went to China.
“I love football and still love football, so money can wait. I tell my supporters thank you, I’ll try to make you happy this season and try my best. As for Nice supporters, they should always follow this club.”