Italy striker Mario Balotelli has been showing off a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan ‘Why Always Thee?’ ahead of his proposed move to Barnsley. The 30-year-old posed for photographs outside Oakwell Stadium in his hilarious new t-shirt after emerging as a shock transfer target for the South Yorkshire outfit.
It’s understood discussions between Balotelli’s entourage and Barnsley’s co-chairmen Chien Lee and Paul Conway are still ongoing, with neither party quite sure what the f**k’s going on. Barnsley, who are currently 16th in the Championship table, believe the Italian is exactly the type of disruptive influence they need to steer them into League One.
Balotelli is a free agent after terminating his contract with Brescia, claiming the Serie A side made unreasonable demands such as insisting he attend the odd training session. The former Inter Milan hitman admits he’s been taking his football too seriously lately and is hoping to enjoy himself at Barnsley.
“At Brescia, it was like: Why haven’t you trained in 2 months Mario? Will you stop throwing darts at your teammates Mario? I couldn’t express myself. It was like a prison,” explained Balotelli.
“But a relegation scrap in the Championship sounds like fun. The pressure’s off. So, hopefully all the players can have a good laugh on our way to League One,” he grinned.
Meanwhile, Barnsley co-chairman Chien Lee revealed that talks are at a crucial stage but believes the club have put together an attractive offer for the Italian.
“We realise at this stage of Mario’s career he can’t train every week. So, if he wants to pop his head in from time to time, just to say hello to the lads and lift morale, that’s grand,” explained Lee. “We’ve got him the latest iPad for when he’s bored on the bench and big box of fireworks for his house warming party’, he added.
Balotelli took to Twitter this afternoon to discuss the move and in an attempt to endear himself to Tykes fans, he tweeted: “Look forward t’playing arse end ‘a nowhere, lads.”
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