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Football

23rd Jan 2019

Mario Balotelli joins Marseille on six month contract after being allowed to leave Nice

Mario Balotelli has joined Olympique Marseille on a permanent transfer from OGC Nice after falling out of favour under Patrick Vieira

Reuben Pinder

Super Mario is becoming a journeyman.

Mario Balotelli has joined Olympique Marseille from OGC Nice on a permanent transfer after falling out of favour under Nice boss Patrick Vieira.

His contract with Nice was set to expire at the end of this season, and he has signed a six-month contract with Marseille, making it a relatively risk-free transfer. Despite finding a new club, he could still be a free agent come the summer, if Marseille don’t fancy keeping the enigmatic striker.

Balotelli had only made 11 appearances for Nice this season, his last coming on December 4th, scoring no goals at all.

Marseille are significantly underperforming this season, as they sit as low as 8th in Ligue 1. Rudi Garcia will be hoping that Balotelli can add some much-needed firepower to their attack and fire them up the table.

The Italian striker, now 28, has hit patches of world class form throughout his career, though he has suffered from inconsistency.

Last season, Balotelli bagged 25 goals for Nice, having scored 17 the season before.

Marseille confirmed his arrival this afternoon with a typically innovative video. The clip features a group of people run across the city of Marseille, parkour style, much more smoothly than Dwight and Michael did in the Office.

They then begin to spray graffiti onto a wall. You’ll never guess what masterpiece they conjure up by the end of it? Yep, a lovely big picture of Super Mario in a Marseille shirt. You have to admit, he does suit it.