Mario Balotelli has revealed his ambitions to win the Ballon d'Or award as he returns to Liverpool to train with Jurgen Klopp's side.
The Italian was not included in Antonio Conte's squad to compete at Euro 2016 and has stagnated in his development as a footballer since leaving Manchester City for AC Milan in 2013.
At 25, Balotelli has spent the last two years trying to impress coaches at Milan and Liverpool without ever achieving anywhere close to the type of form good enough to nail down a starting position with either club. He scored one goal in 20 appearances for the Rossoneri and scored just four in 28 appearances for Liverpool the year before.
Jurgen Klopp is reportedly keen to ship the striker, who has a contract with the club until 2018, out of Liverpool but is finding it hard to locate a suitor.
Balotelli might be low on admirers but believes he still has what it takes to become the best footballer he can.
“On the scale of 0 to 10, I stopped at five, but I’ll get to 10 eventually. I want to get there. I will win the Ballon d’Or," he said.
"I do realise that I’ve spent two years of my career when I could’ve been getting closer to 10 and instead stayed at five. I know, the Ballon d’Or might seem laughable and I might not have done everything to be the best, but the important thing is I realised it’s not too late.
“I don’t want to reach the end of my career with the regret of not doing everything I can to be the best. Up until two years ago I made do with what I had. I did well, knew I could play, so I was happy. It wasn’t in my mind to improve, as I thought that was enough.
“Over the last two years I started working seriously, yet the results did not arrive. Maybe I am paying the price for the previous 23 years. I am relaxed, though, as I am aware that in the last two years things have changed completely.”
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