13. Mario Balotelli
Some players are a lightning rod for controversy wherever they go. Italian striker, Mario Balotelli, is one of those players. He’s best known for playing in the Premier League club Liverpool and the Italy national team. Mario Balotelli Barwuah – known as Super Mario – hit the headlines a lot during his two and a half years at Manchester City, but not for his game play. He crashed his Audi R8 near the training ground just two weeks after being signed in 2010. He was reportedly fined £100,000 for pitching darts at youth players from a window. He set his own house on fire in 2011, the day before a game, by setting off fireworks inside it (ironically, a week before being named an ambassador for firework safety). From Manchester City, he went to Milan for a year and a half in 2013, then to Liverpool. However, after an unsuccessful season at Liverpool, he went back to Milan on loan in 2015. The contract to loan Balotelli to Milan for a season in 2015 contained an unprecedented “anti-scandal” clause that stipulated he show up on time for practice, and behave himself both on and off the pitch. To be fair, Balotelli has faced more than his share of blatant racism from fans (even in his native Italy), and some of the many newspaper stories from his time in Manchester were proven false.
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