It's official: Mario Balotelli will not wear the Marseille Olympique jersey during the 2019-20 season in Ligue 1 Conforama.
In a pre-season interview given to L'Equipe on Wednesday, Olympique de Marseille president Jacques-Henri Eyraud discussed the case of Mario Balotelli, who arrived at the club in the winter transfer window.
"Mario Baltelli will not continue his adventure at OM", declared the OM president when asked about future recruits, making the Italian's departure official. "We will need to sign another striker."
About-face
Last March, the 28-year-old told south-coast daily La Provence that he wanted to stay with OM for the coming season.
"My contract ends at the end of the year [in June]," said the Italy international, who had an excellent second half to the season, scoring eight goals - with one in each of his first five home games - in 15 Ligue 1 Conforama appearances for the southern giants. "Then we'll talk. I told my agent I was fine here. I want to stay."
'Two or three profiles'
More broadly, Jacques-Henri Eyraud stated: "I don't think we should expect much movement. Today we are looking at two or three profiles we can pursue if there are unexpected departures."
