MX23RW : Thursday, April 25 14:40:35| >> :600:175713:175713:

Mario Balotelli: I want to stay with France's biggest club Marseille

Mario Balotelli: I want to stay with France's biggest club Marseille
© Reuters
Italian striker Balotelli is out of contract at the end of the season.

Mario Balotelli has revealed his desire to stay at Marseille next season.

The Italian striker, who faces former club Nice on Sunday, will be out of contract at the end of the current campaign.

"The fact of the matter is that my contract expires at the end of this season and after that, we'll discuss it," Balotelli told La Provence.

"I've told my agent that I am happy here and want to stay. My first two seasons at Nice were good, but Marseille is on another level, another type of football and atmosphere.

"As far as I am concerned, Marseille are the biggest club in France. I thank Nice and its supporters, but there's no comparison with Marseille.

"I've always felt that I would fit in here and I can't explain why. The atmosphere is a bit like Naples. I've said the only Italian club I could play for would be Napoli. It's more or less the same thing at Marseille."

Balotelli has scored four goals since joining Marseille from Nice in January.

He celebrated his goal in last weekend's 2-0 home win over St Etienne by grabbing a phone and posting a live video of his celebration on social media.

Nice boss Patrick Vieira believes Balotelli is proving to be a success because he needed a fresh challenge.

"We all have our opinion on Mario," said Vieira at a press conference. "He is doing well for Marseille and that proves he needed another source of motivation and was looking for something else.

"He decided to leave, he is scoring goals for Marseille, it goes well for him, good for him."

Nice are currently eighth, four points behind fourth-placed Marseille, ahead of the south-coast derby.

Vieira can welcome back forward Myziane Maolida, who has recovered from a hamstring injury in time for the trip.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'bb887365-93e3-4bae-add3-558a3cbbe969');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:match-reports,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Mario Balotelli: I want to stay with France\u2019s biggest club Marseille'});

ID:352843: cacheID:352843:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4436:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Mario Balotelli in action for France on June 1, 2018
Read Next:
Balotelli joins Marseille on contract until end of season
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Paris Saint-GermainPSG30209173264769
2MonacoMonaco30177656381858
3Brest30158744291553
4Lille301410643261752
5Nice3013983324948
6Lens30137103932746
7Rennes30119104436842
8Marseille30101194537841
9Lyon30125133949-1041
10Reims30117123741-440
11Toulouse30910113639-337
12Montpellier HSCMontpellier30910113842-436
13StrasbourgStrasbourg3099123341-836
14NantesNantes3094172848-2031
15Metz3085173149-1829
16Le HavreLe Havre30610142738-1128
17Lorient3068163659-2326
18Clermont30410162149-2822


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!