Former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has joined Serie A club Genoa on a free transfer.

The 34-year-old has been without a club since leaving Adana Demirspor of the Turkish Super Lig in the summer.

Balotelli, who has 36 caps in Italy, returns to play in his home country more than three years after leaving Monza.

Part of Manchester City’s title-winning side in 2012, Balotelli joins a struggling Genoa side who are sitting in the relegation positions.

Genoa, led by Alberto Gilardino, are 18th after taking six points from their opening nine games.

Balotelli has made headlines for his behavior on and off the pitch during his time in the Premier League.

At Manchester City, this included a training ground row with manager Roberto Mancini, and he revealed a “why always me?” T-shirt after scoring in a 6-1 demolition of rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Balotelli scored 30 goals in two and a half years with the Blues, helping the club to their first league title since 1968.

After an initial, brief spell at AC Milan, an unsuccessful move to Liverpool in 2014 followed, which led to a loan move to San Siro.

Since then, Balotelli has played across Europe for several clubs, including French sides Nice and Marseille, as well as Italian clubs Brescia and Monza.

A member of the Italy squad that finished second at Euro 2012, Balotelli has not played for his country since 2018.