Former Manchester City and Liverpool centre-forward Mario Balotelli has been involved in a serious car crash in his native Italy.
The 33-year-old totalled his car in a heavy collision in the Italian town of Brescia but managed to walk away from the wreckage without suffering any significant injuries.
Local Italian newspaper Fatto Quotidiano reports the crash occurred at 8.30pm on Thursday night in Balotelli's hometown Orzinuovi. The striker was in Italy after being granted leave from Turkish Super Lig club Adana Demispor while he recovers from an injury.
He was fortunate to walk away without any serious injuries from the huge shunt after colliding with a wall whilst he was behind the wheel of his Audi Q8 car. The force of the crash is said to have been heavy enough to set off the air bags inside the vehicle.
Mario Balotelli has a car accident in Brescia: he is unharmed.
— MARCA in English (@MARCAinENGLISH) November 23, 2023
Reports indicate that the Italian football player refused to undergo a breathalyzer test pic.twitter.com/1wxJQbF1Zv
Balotelli's brother, Enock Barwuah, visited the scene of crash after returning from training with his local team and escorted him home after it was deemed he did not require medical treatment.
It is not the first time Balotelli has been involved in a car crash. Back in 2012, he and a female passenger were involved in a collision with a Vauxhall Corsa while driving his luxury Bentley car in the Deansgate Locks area. However, it later emerged that Balotelli was not at fault.
The former Italy international joined City in 2010 from Inter Milan when Roberto Mancini was in charge and he was part of the Premier League title-winning side in 2011-12. It was Balotelli's assist that set up Sergio Aguero to score the famous 94th-minute winner at the Etihad Stadium in their 3-2 win over QPR
He returned to Italy with AC Milan after a falling out with Mancini and spent two seasons at the San Siro before making a shock return to England with Liverpool in 2015. He made only 28 appearances and scored four goals for the Anfield club, only for him to depart for a second spell with Milan.
After spells in France with Nice and Marseille, he headed back to Italy to rejoin his hometown club Brescia in 2019.
Short-lived stints with Monza, Adana Demirspor and Sion followed, and Balotelli decided to re-sign with the Turkish club this summer as a free agent. He has recently backed himself to win his place in the Italy national team, with the last of his 36 caps coming back in 2018.
