What on earth is wrong with Mario Balotelli, and what does it say about his Milan future?
He was supposed to be back for the Rossoneri's last game of 2015, against Frosinone. Instead, he fell ill with flu... and is now still training on his own, along with Jeremy Menez. Is he really in bad physical shape?
And does this have anything to do with Mino Raiola, Mario Balotelli's agent? Not only did he open to a return to Liverpool (who are loaning the Azzurri international to Milan), he also raised questions about the club's hypothetical future plans, which had been talked about when the club contacted Liverpool about eventually buying Balotelli.
A situation that is miles removed from what happened no more than five months ago, when Sinisa Mihajlovic secretly met Balotelli in a petrol station near Prato to agree on the final details of his move to the Rossoneri.
It's as if the situation has suddenly changed. When Raiola speaks, he's never boring, and is generally doing it for a reason. Has he sussed out a change on Milan's bench, and a situation in which Super Mario ends up getting a whole lot less playing time?
Whilst we await his return, he can hopefully be ready for January 9th, when Milan face Roma.
