This might be a sign of maturity on Mario Balotelli's part, the Italian striker has been delivering some compelling performances with OGC Nice and is currently the Ligue 1's goal scoring leader as well as his club. But this still wasn't ebough for Italy boss Giampiero Ventura, he believes Balotelli is on the right track to success this time, but he needs to be more consistent in order to earn that call-up. Representing his country is the highest honor any player can get, Balotelli surprisingly agrees.
Talking to Sky Sport Italia, the striker said: "I've missed it for some time, but it's been deserved. I hope to return in blue very soon, but only at my best. To me, it's better to have skipped this match. I want to be at my best for the upcoming games. Milan wasn't the best environment for me. I did nothing wrong from a behavioural point of view. Injuries are out of players' control and don't depend on us. I found a lot of confusion at Milan, the only certainty was and is [Adriano] Galliani. What do I think about his possible farewell? This would confirm the current confusion at Milan."
"The city where I am now is beautiful. The environmental aspect played a role in my decision, having recently lived in Liverpool and Milan. The team, however, are very young. We're almost all the same age, this is the football that I like. I have no more dreams in football, only targets. The ranking of the teams where I have felt good? Nice, Manchester City and... that's it."
He finally took a dig at German manager Jurgen Klopp for not giving him a chance: "Klopp doesn't know me, I spoke to him once, he told me to go somewhere else, work hard and then return. So I said goodbye to them, and that we wouldn't be seeing each other again."
Photo credit: OGC Nice