Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘Arsene Will Do Anything To Sign Balotelli’ PUMA Could Help Gunners Land Italian Star

According to reports in Italy, Arsene Wenger will do anything in his power to sign Mario Balotelli.

On Wednesday evening Sky Sport Italia pundit Mario Giunta suggested “Arsenal are very interested in Balotelli and Arsene Wenger would do anything to bring him to London.

“This operation could be pushed forward by the technical sponsor, who Balotelli shares with Arsenal [PUMA]. To have Balotelli in the Premier League for Arsenal would be an important investment.”

It is surely fair to suggest that Mario Balotelli is, pretty universally, considered something of an enigma. Talented, impulsive, impetuous, individualistic, flamboyant, daft, probably even somewhat endearing; essentially anything but ordinary. Standing 6ft 2in and combining exceptional natural athleticism with a fearsome strike, Milan deem the Italian worthy of a £20 million fee while barely out of his teens despite an already long-established flair for controversy. Balotelli, contests the prevailing wisdom, possesses all the characteristics of an elite footballer and should he reign in his often destructive, maverick excesses, should develop into one of his generation’s finest talents. His maturity and temperament may be questioned but his talent stands alone. Or so the argument goes.

Statistically at least, such promise appears vindicated with 30 goals from 44 appearances since arriving in Milan, an impressive tally for an emerging talent adapting to an alien footballing environment. Still, given his reputation such numbers offer only partial respite. For comfort amongst the world’s elite, goals alone are too crass a barometer. Something else is required. Something more. Those willing to proclaim Balotelli as the very embodiment of that something else, that intangible property that distinguishes the great from the merely very good are myriad but that is not to say their ruminations should be so blindly accepted. Those who work with the 23 year-old daily, are rarely shy in stressing the superlative nature of the forward’s technical gifts and of course, their positions offers them a privileged vantage point to judge from. But are they right? Is he actually that good?

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