Balotelli's Milan return a 'bonus' for Italy
Mario Balotelli could make his second AC Milan debut in Empoli on Saturday night after training with the team ahead of his loan move from Liverpool, with the head of Italian football hoping the deal will be a “bonus” for the national team.
Balotelli, 25, trained for nearly two hours with new Milan coach Sinisa Mihaljovic and his staff after successfully undergoing a medical on Tuesday morning, ahead of his season-long loan with the Serie A club.
The Italy striker’s arrival at the club’s Milanello training ground drew huge crowds on Tuesday, and the club posted several updates on his return throughout the day.
Carlo Tavecchio, president of the Italian Football Association (FIGC), said he is happy to see Balotelli return, sharing the hope of Milan fans that he will rediscover his form back in familiar surroundings.
“We’ll see,” Tavecchio told Mediaset television. “He’s a lad who seems to have forgotten all about the values of suffering and sacrifice; to have had everything, too much and all too soon in view of his talent.
“It’s like he has lost his bearings and it is up to him to find them again now he is back at Milan, and with Milan’s help.
“If the Rossoneri succeed in rebuilding Balotelli again, it will also be an added bonus for the whole of Italian football.”
Not everybody is quite so excited about his return, however. Gigi Riva, the Italy national team’s all-time leading goal scorer, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “He’s been all around Europe and he’s already been at Milan — I think we can only expect what we’ve already seen of him these past years.”
With Milan drawing a blank on their first Serie A outing at Fiorentina on Sunday, hopes will be pinned on Balotelli to deliver a repeat of his first debut for the club in February 2013, when his two goals saw the Rossoneri beat Udinese 2-1.
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