Thread by @UpshotTowers

Mario Balotelli is a mad bastard.

From lobbing darts at teammates to burning his own house down, the Italian striker wreaks havoc wherever he goes.

Here's a recap of his wildest moments...

The hell-raising began at Serie C side Lumezanne, where a teenage Mario specialised in a particularly unsavoury prank.

"He would pee on our bags containing our clean clothes and he would pee on people too," recalled teammate Marco Pedretti.

And that was just the start...

A move to Inter Milan followed, where Mario won 3 titles and the Champions League under Jose Mourinho.

But his trademark tantrums eventually riled the fans.

It didn't help that he supported their hated rivals AC Milan, and even pulled on their shirt in a TV interview...

For a crunch European tie, Balotelli was Inter's only fit striker.

He picked up a first half booking, so boss Jose spent "14 minutes of the 15 speaking only to Mario", begging him to avoid a red.

“Minute 46 – red card,” Jose despaired, before branding the player "unmanageable."

But it was at Man City where he really let loose.

On moving into his new Manchester home, Mario's mum sent him to John Lewis to buy an ironing board. He came back with a quad bike, a trampoline, and a Scalextric set.

In other words, he was there to have fun...

Two weeks later, Mario crashed his Audi R8 on his way to training.

When police arrived, they were suspicious of why he had £5,000 in his back pocket.

"Because I am rich," he explained.

Good job he was, because Man City soon handed him a £100k fine for lobbing darts at youth team players from a first floor window at the club's training ground.

Asked to explain himself, Balotelli answered simply: "I was bored".

Then he tried this in a pre-season friendly...

And was immediately substituted.

The following season, Mario's Cheshire mansion caught fire hours before Man City's table-topping clash with Man United, when he and his mates set off fireworks in the bathroom.

Tiles and plaster were blown off the walls, causing £400,000 of damage.

But the next day, he scored twice in a 6-1 win, before revealing an iconic shirt.

And then became the face of a fire safety campaign...

Had Mad Maz turned a corner?

After winning £25,000 in a casino, Balotelli came straight outside and gave a grand in cash to a homeless man.

A lovely gesture, which is more than can be said of the time he ran into Jennifer Thompson, the prostitute at the heart of Wayne Rooney's cheating scandal.

After spotting her in a Manchester restaurant, Mario reportedly serenaded her with chants of "Rooney, Rooney, Rooney".

But the season ended in glory, when Man City became English champions for the first time since 1968.

Balotelli made the only assist of his Premier League career in the final game, teeing up Aguero for his dramatic last minute winner.

He then jetted off to the Euros, where he was quizzed on his recent muted goal celebrations.

"I'm only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?" Mario replied.

The following day he delivered this famous celebration after scoring against Germany.

After leaving Man City, Mario began a nomadic tour of European clubs, from Marseille to Monza. But he remained an absolute nutter.

Last year, after a move to Turkey, Balotelli was filmed punching his Adama Demispor teammate in frustration at being subbed off.

His stint in Turkey did offer the chance to take some sweet revenge.

Back in 2013, Besiktas manager Sergen Yalcin said Balotelli had "no brain".

Eight years later, he came off the bench to score twice in a 3-3 draw, before sprinting over to Yalcin to taunt him.

As a wild career winds down, Mario now finds himself at Swiss side Sion.

Will the drama end there? Probably not...

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