Arsenal icon Patrick Vieira to land new job and set up awkward Mario Balotelli reunion

Patrick Vieira is set to land himself a new job as the next Genoa boss - leading to a potentially-awkward reunion with

The former was last in charge in France with Strasbourg, but is now poised to make the move to Italy. Genoa find themselves 17th in the table, just one point above the relegation zone, after only winning two matches all season.

Former Azzurri striker Alberto Gilardino is set to be shown the door after nearly two years at the helm with Vieira the man tasked with improving their fortunes. It means the icon will have to renew his relationship with Balotelli, whom he worked with at Nice.

Whilst the pair were together in the south of France they had a disagreement, which led to Balotelli leaving the club and heading up the coast to Marseille in 2019.

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Balotelli scored more goals for Nice than for any of the 11 clubs he has represented during his career - landing 43 from 76 matches, but he cited Vieira's style as a major issue.

He said: “I lived in Villefranche, and it was crazy. I was smiling every day, I went to the sea every day. It was a dream life. The problem was that the way Vieira played didn’t really suit me. I got along well with him, but on sporting matters, I didn’t agree. If I hadn’t had these problems with him, I would never have left Nice."

Balotelli has fallen from the heights he once looked to scale. He moved to with a big reputation and huge promise if he was able to rid of his behavioural issues. He's been unable to deliver however and Vieira, once a team-mate, admits it was difficult to see.

He once said: "I played with Mario for a couple of years. He was a kid when I was Inter and then I played with him again at Manchester City. He's a lovely guy and I love him but of course, it was challenging to coach him at Nice because it was very frustrating to see so much talent wasted.

"As a manager, you try to get the best and the maximum out of every player, and it was really difficult to do that with him. It was frustrating, of course, that I wasn't able to do that with him, but he's somebody that I'll always love."

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