Balotelli - A legible punt for Spurs?
Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 2:06 PM 
Controversial Italian striker Mario Balotelli looks set to be leaving Manchester City in the near future, the papers reporting he has moved out of his rented mansion although manager Roberto Mancini denies that he is set to leave the club. With AC Milan alleged favourites for the strikers signature, either on loan or permanently would he be the sort of striker Tottenham Hotspur could take a potential gamble on?
Anyone who saw his performance for Italy against Germany at the Euro's last summer, will agree that on his day he is a class striker, managing to keep fellow Italian Antonio Di Natale out of the first team set up and putting two past Manuel Neuer in the German goal. The problem for him has been the infrequency at which he manages to hit the top of his game, although his goal record for Manchester City is 20 goals in 53 games, which isn't bad for a 22-year-old limited to substitute appearances its the poor and often sporadic behaviour on the pitch that hinders him.
Easily lured into unnecessary challenges and lacking a real team ethic, he fell out with Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan as well as causing leading players like Javier Zanetti to question his work ethic on the pitch.
However, the dilemma Spurs have, world class strikers are of an abundance. At just 22 and putting his reputation aside, he fits the mould of an Andre Villas-Boas striker perfectly; strong, powerful, quick and has a sharp eye for goal. Moreover he's undoubtedly experienced, winning the Serie A on three separate occasions, the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA cup, giving him more honours in his four year spell at the top than Brad Friedel in his illustrious career spanning some 20+ years.
It's his unruly reputation that would be the problem, Redknapp's man management skill would've been a great asset to putting the youngster back on track, but Villas-Boas and company have more than satisfactory experience in developing young players into world class talent; Luis Martins responsible for pushing through Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Moutinho at Sporting Lisbon in Portugal and Freund having managed the German youth set up before re-joining Spurs' management team. Villas-Boas is also sure to have learned from his time at Chelsea in how to deal with untoward players.
Convincing the player himself to join would be a task in itself, Levy a man notoriously tight with the money will be hard to convince as City will be looking to re-coup as much of the £18Mm they paid for him, if they where to sell him. The excess fees he paid for strikers Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent will also have made him wary of overspending on a player. Although all hypothetical the strikers previous with our club - stamping on Scott Parkers head and then scoring the winning penalty - probably isn't the best background for a potential move. Then again, Spurs did take onboard Emmanuel Adebayor and William Gallas from Arsenal and goals speak volumes.
Super Mario, as he is dubbed by the media, is no doubt a class striker on his day, put up top on a regular basis he can perform. His composure in front of goal is Berbatov-esque, it's only when things get heated can he let you down. As much as he is controversial its hard to say he isn't an incredibly exciting prospect and if he where ever to pull on a Spurs shirt, it would make the rollercoaster that is being a Spurs fan that bit more hectic.
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Reader Comments (31)
How on earth could spurs afford the wages for such a player ?
For 200K a week wages NO team in their right mind would take a punt on this nutjob..
can't afford him or his wages - and wouldn't touch him with a very, very long barge pole
I think you mean <eligible> and not <legible> :)
Beyond ridiculous. He would not come; we can't afford him; he destroys team spirit which we have in abundance; he does not produce much; he is trouble.
THE GUY IS TOO TEMRAMENTAL IF THAT IS THE CORRECT SPELLING HE LEADS BY BAD EXAMPLE IMAGINE HIM IN LONDON TO ALL HOURS OF THE NIGHT NO WAY PEDRO ! ! !
what a donut
I'd rather sign Harry's wife than this guy, he's more nuts than a squirrel's packed lunch.
Never mind his wages, can you imagine how disruptive his presence would be? AVB seems to have instilled a really good spirit in the squad and Mental Mario's arrival could undo that in a heartbeat!
Next.
Why would you want to upset the dressing room, a big NO.
I must be different to the others above mario is class and would help drive us to the next level. Others mention his wages adebayor was on 225k at city this is where large signing on bonuses helps get down his weekly wage. I would love to see him at the lane yes he's hot headed but given the right love by the manager his talent will shine. People say we can't afford him must have forgot we bid 37.5m for aguero and had a fee of 24m agreed with Porto or mouthino so we have plenty in the war chest it's just getting levy to spend that is the problem
Would he upset the dressing room or is that mostly a bunch of crap printed by the media? Saw him interviewed on football focus a while back and he seemed a perfectly decent bloke who was saying half the things written about him are rubbish.
Yes, he's "eccentric" and ye he may lack a bit of discipline, but he's young, and he's very, very good. If he'd come for £100k a week and £15m then I'd certainly take said punt.
The thing is, he won't so it's irrelevant. Any body coming knows they will be 3rd choice (possibly 2nd behind Defoe) which is why people like Hooper and this Korean kid are much more realistic targets.
Spurs are looking for a decent striker that won’t cost big money: I don’t know why they don’t look at someone like Jamie Mackie – works his arse off, will score for fun with the chances he’ll get at Spurs and would only cost £3m
Are you totally mad? Adebayor is one too many.
Never Never in a billkion years. The very thought of it makes me feel queasy
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. Adebayor is one supersulk too many.
Hallucinogenic drugs can be very dangerous, stop taking them now!
any thoughts on Ricky Lambert
Ludicrous article I'm afraid. I know it's tough when you have to keep coming up with new ideas to write a piece about but this one is just silly. Also, are world class strikers of an abundance? I don't think they are, and if they were I fail to see how that would be a problem.
Every Player has a club and despite all the problems, if and when Balotelli finds his he will be brilliant. I agree with all the comments about him being disruptive and it would be such a big gamble. But if Spurs could be the place for him i would love to see it. I do rate him and think that he's just not at the right football team, he's more of a talent than Ade and Defoe combine, but my fear is the only place he should be playing his football is back in Italy. If AVB was to get this guy to play the type of football that he's capable of then he would be perfect for us, it would be like having a modern day Cantona. I hope he can sort himself out somewhere, him and Cassano worked so well together for Italy in the Euros. Personally i thought it was amongst the best performances from an Italian team in an attacking sense for a long time.
Bit bored today were you?