Mario Balotelli poses with 'shotgun' in controversial Instagram pic: 'Kiss to all who hate me'

The 23-year-old international has been enjoying a lengthy holiday in Miami with his fiancée

Jenn Selby
Friday 11 July 2014 15:51 BST
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It’s been at least a week since Mario Balotelli hit the headlines for doing something obscure.

But the Italian striker managed to raise eyebrows again after he posted an image, in which he appears to be posing with a shotgun, onto his Instagram account on Thursday (10 July).

Starring down the barrel, which was pointed towards the lens, he apparently captioned the photograph: “Kiss to all who hate me”.

Balotelli later deleted the image from his account.

The 23-year-old international has been enjoying a lengthy holiday in Miami with his fiancée, the model Fanny Neguesha, after the Italian team crashed out of the World Cup in the group stages.

The controversial shot could hamper Balotelli’s next career move – a player Jose Mourinho once described as “unmanageable”.

Arsenal are apparently set to offer the footballer a deal worth £180,000-a-week in a bid to lure him back to the Premier League.

The AC Milan forward, who joined the Italian giants from Manchester City in January 2013, is reported by the Italian media to have set his sights on leaving the Rossoneri this summer.

Balotelli’s past controversies include firing air pistols in the open in Milan’s Piazza della Repubblica, setting fire to his own house after conducting a questionable indoor fireworks display, and taking trips to an Italian women’s prison to “have a look around”.

Representatives for Balotelli are yet to comment on the image, although AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani is less than pleased with the picture.

"I have my own ideas about social networks and I've tried many times but our lawyer has always stopped me, saying that it would violate individual rights," said Galliani.

"In contracts it's written what players can and cannot do, but we can't do anything regarding their private lives. We do it vocally but that's not enough."

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