The Ukrainian striker, Andriy Shevchenko is a man who knows a thing or two about scoring goals. Over the course of his career, he found the back of the net 321 times in 648 professional appearances.
He was particularly impressive during his time with AC Milan, when he scored a startling 175 goals in 322 games. Of course, he’s still best known over here for his failure to adapt to Premier League action.
Before Fernando Torres turned up, Andriy Shevchenko was Chelsea’s biggest flop. He cost The Blues £30.8m (which was a huge deal back in 2006 – and still would be now, to be fair), but he only scored 22 goals in 76 appearances.
With all this in mind, it’s interesting to see his recent comments about Mario Balotelli. When asked about whether the Italian centre-forward would be able to get his career back on track, Shevchenko responded:
“Balotelli deserves another chance and Liverpool will give it to him. They are a great team, he can aspire to also win the Champions League. It’s up to him to overcome the difficulties and take back control of his destiny.
“If he was not happy and Milan weren’t either, it was right to separate. But I saw Mario at the European Championships two years ago in Ukraine and Poland. He was a fantastic player and I refuse to believe that this has been lost along the way.”
Both Balotelli and Shevchenko have moved from Serie A to the Premier League. The only difference is that Balotelli has now done it twice. His first stay in England provoked mixed reviews. It’ll be interesting to see if he can offer improved performances this time round. Andriy certainly seems to think that it’s possible.
But the Ukrainian does reference the ‘difficulties’ that have plagued Balotelli’s career. The Italian is a real headache to manage. He’s a hot-head, who doesn’t tend to get on well with his manager (and in some cases, his team-mates).
If he’s to truly kick-on, he needs to grow up a little. I don’t want to see him lose his character, or his personality, but I do want to see him play fair with his team-mates and the Liverpool hierarchy.
No one player is bigger than his club. If Mario Balotelli can come to appreciate this, then maybe Andriy Shevchenko is right – maybe he can go on to win the Champions League.
What’s your take? What does the future hold for Mario Balotelli?
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He’ll be fine as long as tits like Harry Cloke get off his back.