Ex-Man City and Liverpool star Mario Balotelli set for 13th transfer to surprise club

Former Manchester City and Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli could be plying his trade in the Spanish third tier next season, with a swift exit from current side Genoa brewing. Balotelli has had a journeyman career since the early heights and could be about to drop down two divisions to find his 13th club.

The 34-year-old joined Genoa in October on a contract until the end of the season and is poised to move after just six appearances for the Italian side. His deal expires on June 30 and reports in Spain say his agent is in talks with Real Murcia.

Balotelli previously held talks over signing for CF Intercity – a third-division club based in Alicante – and a similar move is now in the offing. The striker’s agents met with Murcia president Felipe Moreno in Madrid recently and a contract has been discussed with sporting director Asier Goiria.

Murcia, based in south-eastern Spain, will be playing in the third division next season after suffering defeat in the promotion play-offs. They will be pushing for promotion to the second tier once again in 2025/26.

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The club have played 18 La Liga campaigns and hold the record for the most second-division titles with eight. But they haven’t been in La Liga since 2008 and slipped to the fourth division in 2022 due to financial difficulties.

The Murcia chiefs clearly think that adding the star power of Balotelli can make the difference after losing to Gimnastic de Tarragona in the play-off semi-finals following a second-place finish.

Balotelli, who will turn 35 in August, has moved all around Europe, from Italy to Turkey, via England, France and Switzerland, but has never played in Spain. Murcia would be his 13th club after Lumezzane, Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool, Nice, Marseille, Brescia, Monza, Sion, Adana Demirspor and Genoa.

He didn’t make an impression at Genoa, where all six of his Serie A appearances came in November and December. Two yellow cards were the grand sum of his contributions, but a broken hand was to blame for the majority of the matches he missed.

Balotelli was signed by Alberto Gilardino, only for the manager to be sacked just weeks later. His replacement, Patrick Vieira was less keen on Balotelli, having played together at Inter Milan and been together at Nice for a time too.

Vieira froze Balotelli out, prompting a not-so-cryptic message on social media from the Italian striker. Posting a photo of himself inside the Genoa locker room, he wrote: "Someone around here would deserve to see not a mature Mario, but the rebellious 16-year-old Mario, maybe then they’d understand what it really means to disrespect someone like this."

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