He has been outscored in Turkey this season by Premier League flops Michy Batshuayi and Andreas Cornelius and was once told he 'deserves a slap' by the man who captains the Italy team, Giorgio Chiellini.
And yet here we are. A promising, but not spectacular, upturn in form combined with an injury to another key player and a World Cup place to fight for has seen coach Roberto Mancini hand Mario Balotelli his first Italy call-up since 2018.
Now 31, this represents at the very least an opening for a possible shot at redemption for Balotelli.