There must be something about the calming French Riviera air that suits Mario Balotelli so well, as he now has 35 goals for Nice to make it his most successful stint at any team in this regard.
While trophies were festooned upon him at Manchester City and Inter, he rarely settled and was often more in the headlines for his off-pitch antics than his goalscoring abilities.
Balotelli's scoring record
2007-08 Inter --> 15 games/ 7 goals
2008-09 Inter --> 31 games/ 10 goals
2009-10 Inter --> 40 games/ 11 goals
2010-11 Manchester City --> 28 games/ 10 goals
2011-12 Manchester City --> 32 games/ 17 goals
2012-13 Manchester City/Milan --> 33 games/ 15 goals
2013-14 Milan --> 41 games / 18 goals
2014-15 Liverpool --> 28 games / 4 goals
2015-16 Milan (loan) --> 23 games / 3 goals
2016-17 Nice --> 28 games / 17 goals
2017-18 Nice --> 23 games / 18 goals

However he is now integral to a Nice side that hasn't won without him this campaign, the Italian notching 18 times in 23 matches to account for a goal every 109.8 minutes since he joined in the summer of 2016.

Balotelli's scoring ratios
2007-10 Inter --> 28 goals in 4,868 minutes = rate of 173.85 minutes
2010-13 Manchester City --> 30 goals in 4.408 minutes = rate of 146.83 minutes
2013-14 & 2015-16 Milan --> 33 goals in 5.300 minutes = rate of 160.6 minutes
2014-15 Liverpool --> 4 goals in 1.510 minutes = rate of 377.5 minutes
2016-18 Nice --> 35 goals in 3,483 minutes = rate of 109.8 minutes

This is despite missing 30 games in his 18 months in France, only half of which were due to injury, with coach Lucien Favre praising how the forward has stepped up his game of late.
The question now is whether the new Italy coach will find a place for him in the Azzurri side, with Balotelli telling La Gazzetta in December that he still dreams of representing his country at every opportunity.

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