Mario Balotelli interest an opportunity A-League bosses must capitalise on

Sure, the Italian headline maker isn’t the same player he was when he was part of Roberto Mancini’s revolution at Manchester City.

The 35-year-old has just finished a stint at Italian top flight club Genoa, where he played six times.

Since leaving England in 2016, he’s bounced around clubs in Italy, France, Switzerland and Turkey.

But Balotelli would deliver a shot in the arm and global publicity the A-League hasn’t enjoyed since Melbourne Victory signed Japanese legend Keisuke Honda in 2018.

Balotelli said on Friday he was “definitely very interested in the A-League”.

This is an opportunity Australian football bosses cannot afford to miss.

Sydney FC has reportedly ruled itself out, but there’s an opportunity to parachute Balotelli into one of the sport’s biggest markets and bring attention the sport in Australia sorely needs.

A-League clubs should be commended for their ability to produce talent, with millions made in sales to European clubs in recent years.

English Championship club Portsmouth has four A-League graduates on its books – Adrian Segecic, Hayden Matthews, Jacob Farrell and Thomas Waddingham.

What the league badly needs is the type of star power it had in its halcyon days when Alessandro Del Piero, Shinji Ono and Emile Heskey captivated sport fans across the country.

The A-League doesn’t need a Thomas Broich type – a player flush with class but with a lower profile.

It needs Balotelli.

The obvious problem will be satisfying Balotelli’s wage demands.

Last season clubs reportedly received their lowest distribution from head office in A-League history ($530,000 down from $2m) and there have been concerns about clubs spending beyond their means on player wages.

Then there’s the fact Football Australia also announced an $8.5m loss in May.

The good news is that Balotelli took a wage cut to join Genoa, reportedly being paid about $360,000 AUD for his stunt with the Italian club.’

Maybe at this stage of his career there are greater motivations than money?

The bad news is that Balotelli is on record saying he still wants to play for Real Madrid.

Regardless of his career ambition or the obvious cash flow problems, there’s no doubt the A-League needs Balotelli.

He is a volatile character who has been in the headlines – mostly for the wrong reasons – during his playing career.

He set off fireworks in a bathroom, later fronting a fireworks safety campaign.

Then there were the incidents at Manchester City.

The casual backheel flick when through on goal in a pre-season game that went viral.

The ‘Why Always Me?’ shirt.

And there’s the story about him being sent to buy milk and coming home with a giant trampoline instead.

Balotelli is box office.

Australian football just needs to find a way to make this happen.

Crowd numbers last season were positive in New Zealand, fuelled by the success of expansion club Auckland FC.

But the average crowd across the A-League Men’s competition was about 9000.

Big characters like Balotelli bring people through the turnstiles.

Tickets will be sold just to find out what he’ll do next.

Maybe he’ll score a worldie.

Maybe he’ll do something outrageous on the bench.

It’s that profile and potential for chaos that will bring people out to watch.

The time has come for the A-League to make a statement and bring Balotelli down under.

Do whatever it takes – find some coins down the back of the couches at Football Australia HQ if that’s what it comes to.

Leveraging Balotelli’s volatility to help revive the A-League is no doubt a risky strategy.

But it’s come to the point where football in Australia needs to take risks to make itself relevant again.