Wayward Italian striker Mario Balotelli has insisted that French club Nice have not taken a risk in signing him from Liverpool. "The career that I have had, it's different to what has been written in the press," Balotelli said at a press conference on Friday as he and fellow new signing Younes Belhanda, the French-born Moroccan international playmaker, were unveiled.
"To me I don't represent a risk. I have had fitness problems, but a risk? No!" The 26-year-old signed a one-year deal at the Allianz Riviera after being allowed to leave Anfield on a free transfer, but Nice are reported to be paying their new recruit an annual salary of 4.5 million euros (3.8 million pounds, $5 million). "We know the risk we are taking, but it's one I take with pleasure," said Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere, whose club helped successfully relaunch the career of France forward Hatem Ben Arfa last season.