Liverpool Paid €1.3m More To Balotelli Over His Basic €4m Salary For This Strange But Brilliant Reason

Mario Balotelli didn’t have the greatest time when he moved to Liverpool and the Italian had revealed that move was a mistake. Balotelli struggled to perform in the league and was shipped out on loan just after one season with the Reds.

Fortunately for the former Inter Milan and AC Milan striker, things have gotten a little better this season as his move to Nice has worked out like a dream. The Italian has scored 17 goals in just 27 games for the Ligue 1 side and could be leading them to the Champions League ahead of next season.

Even with the bridge being burned between him and Liverpool, there still is more news coming out regarding the relationship between the two. Balotelli didn’t score a lot of goals at the Reds but he still got a €1.3 million bonus as he kept his temper in check at Anfield.

Calcio Mercato reports that German journalists Michael Wulzinger and Rafael Buschmann of Der Spiegel have written a book titled “The Dirty Side of Football”, which contains a number of revelations about club football and more.

The pair have revealed that the Italian’s contract at Liverpool had a clause which stated that if Balotelli could avoid getting sent off thrice in a season, he would be entitled to a bonus of €1.3 million over his €4 million salary.

Safe to say, Balotelli didn’t get a red card even once while playing for the Reds and even though he didn’t score a lot of goals, the money wouldn’t have hurt him either.

The clause might be a bit of a strange one to keep but this was a brilliant idea by then manager Brendan Rodgers who wanted to ensure that the Italian was on his best behaviour when representing the Reds.

Liverpool might not have seen the best out of Balotelli but the Italian certainly did his best not to be sent off when playing for the Reds, and now we can see why.