Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere insists he has no regrets bringing Mario Balotelli to the club despite the striker’s severe slump in form.
Balotelli, who arrived from Liverpool at the start of the season, made a sensational start to life at the club before going off the boil and angering the club in recent weeks.
The 26-year-old was shown a straight red card in his last appearance for Nice and his long-term future at the club remains unclear, although the club’s president has offered his support for the underfire striker.
“There are periods like this in the life of any player,” The Daily Mail quote Rivere as saying. “He made a very good start to the season. At the moment things are not as good but I hope he will soon be back to the Mario that we saw at the beginning of the season.
“Overall we are very happy. He is in a good frame of mind and we do not regret having Mario with us.“
Balotelli started the season by scoring seven goals in his first seven appearances for the club in all competitions but has followed that up with just three goals in the following 11 matches. In that time he has picked up our bookings and two red cards.
For more stats on Mario Balotelli, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
