It was reported on Thursday that AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli was being transferred to Liverpool for £16 million. Now the English Premier League club wants a behavior clause in Balotelli's contract before officially signing him.
Balotelli's on- and off-the-field issues are Liverpool's main issue with the Italian striker. His temperament is a big flaw, as he's been involved in a number of fiascos during his two years playing for Machester City. He was handed four red cards during his time on the field due to reckless behavior. As for off-field issues, Balotelli was a dream for the tabloids in England.
With Manchester City, Balotelli ran into a number of problems. The first incident occurred just two weeks into Man City career when he crashed his Audi R8. When police arrived at the scene, they asked the Italian why he had £5,000 in his back pocket, to which he replied, "Because I am rich." Later on he was fined £100,000 for throwing darts at youth players from a training ground window; he got into a shoving match with former Man City manager Roberto Mancini; and he was caught lighting off fireworks in his bathroom just 36 hours before a match against Manchester United.
But despite the baggage that comes with Balotelli, he's a tremendous talent. He led Serie A in goals over the past 18 months with 26 in 37 matches. He also became the youngest player ever to score in the Champions League at 18 years and 85 days old. And although his time spent in the Premier League was short-lived, he helped deliver a PL championship for Manchester City - the team's first since 1968.
Now that Liverpool just paid a solid transfer fee for Balotelli and are likely to invest a large amount of money in him, the club wants a stringent behavior clause in his contract to help the striker clean up his act. If the clauses were to be broken, Balotelli would face hefty fines. The English club first sought to acquire Balotelli on a loan, but AC Milan rejected that notion when Liverpool asked for a behavior clause that could nix the transaction if violations ensued on the striker's behalf.
"Balotelli is clearly a world-class player and if Liverpool completes the deal they will of course be hoping that the player performs well on and off the pitch," said Glenn Hayes of the Irwin Mitchell national law firm, in this ESPN FC article. "His past record does suggest that there is potential for future misbehaviour and Liverpool will, I expect, be ensuring that they protect themselves."