Mario Balotelli got his Nice career off to a superb start with a brace against Marseille last night, but the forward wasn’t permitted to wear his usual number 45 shirt and instead donned the number nine jersey.
The controversial forward has worn the number 45 throughout his career, during spells at Inter Milan, AC Milan, Manchester City and Liverpool.
However, as reported by DreamTeamFC, there are strict rules in Ligue 1 that prevent players from wearing “whimsical” numbers, meaning teams are therefore forbidden from allocating numbers over 40 to players.
Balotelli’s new squad number certainly seems to have brought him luck, with the forward being named man of the match for his display against Marseille.
At the age of 26, now is the time for Balotelli to perform consistently and finally realise his vast potential after he struggled to make any sort of impact during his spell at Liverpool or his subsequent loan spell back at AC Milan.
The striker was excellent against Marseille as he had an average shot accuracy of 100% and he will hope to find the net again when Nice face Schalke in the Europa League on Thursday.
As a youngster Balotelli was widely regarded as one of the best prospects in world football, but – mainly owing to his attitude problems – he has so far been unable to hit the heights that many predicted him to reach.
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