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Ex-Man City, Liverpool forward Balotelli joins Serie B Monza on free transfer

Mario Balotelli has joined Italian Serie B side Monza on a free transfer.

The Italian striker has been without a team since leaving relegated Brescia at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.

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Ambitious Monza were promoted as Serie C champions last season and are owned by former AC Milan and Italian national Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who signed Balotelli twice for the Rossoneri.

They sit ninth in Serie B and are managed by former Milan midfielder and boss Cristian Brocchi. Among his teammates at Monza, Balotelli will find Kevin-Prince Boateng and Gabriel Paletta, who he played alongside at Milan.

Balotelli started his career at Inter Milan, where he won the the Serie A title three years in a row as well as the Coppa Italia and Champions League in 2010 as part of the Treble. He also won the Golden Boy award as Europe's best young player that year.

That summer, he joined Manchester City and won the FA Cup and Premier League title before joining Milan and returning to the Premier League with Liverpool.

Following a season at Anfield, he once again joined Milan on loan before he moved to Nice in 2016. Following a short stint at Marseille, he returned to Italy with hometown club Brescia, but could not stop them from being relegated.