Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere has confirmed Mario Balotelli wants to stay at the club and he is working on a new deal for the striker.
The one-year deal Balotelli signed last summer is due to expire at the end of the month and he still hasn’t agreed to a contract extension despite the fact he is expected to renew.
Balotelli was due to report back to pre-season training on Wednesday but was absent as the controversial striker waits to resolve his future first.
“I’ll only say two things about Mario,” Football Italia quote Rivere as saying at the presentation for Pierre Lees-Melou, Adrien Tameze and Jean-Victor Makengo.
“The first is that we have a player who wants to stay with Nice. The second is that he’s ready to make the financial effort and we’re continuing to work.”
Balotelli was deemed as huge gamble when he signed for Nice from Liverpool last summer but he was a relative success despite the fact he was sent off three times.
Just like Nice did with Hatem Ben Arfa the year before, Lucien Favre’s side have provided Balotelli with a platform where he can thrive and that is illustrated by the fact he scored 15 goals in a league campaign for the first time in his senior career.
For more stats on Mario Balotelli, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
