Back in September, it looked as if Mario Balotelli had finally found a home in the form of OGC Nice.The Italian striker, whose topsy-turvy career has been littered with controversial incidents, scored seven goals in his first seven appearances for the French club.Not only was he playing well, he was also enjoying his football. He was even smiling.However, Balotelli - not for the first time during his career - has let himself and his teammates down in recent weeks.He picked up his third red card of the season against Lorient last weekend after insulting referee Tony Chapron and his manager wasn’t in a forgiving mood after the game."Is he victim of his reputation? Do you think it was a red card because it was Balotelli? It's ridiculous," Lucien Favre told reporters. "If there is enough for a red card, they send off, if there is not enough, they do not send off."

Balotelli was criticised by teammate a week earlier

His latest sending off came just a week after Balotelli’s teammate, Valentin Eysseric, told reporters the Frenchman’s attitude was the only thing preventing him from becoming indispensable to the team.

“When I see him miss a shot or not scoring, he lowers his head, grumbles and doesn’t want to talk,” Eysseric told Goal. “He goes into his corner and it’s a shame because he’s stronger than everyone, runs faster, is stronger, shoots harder. It’s a shame he’s like that and he lets his head drop.

“We know he’s had a good career and we hear a lot about him, but I don’t think he’s got a bad frame of mind. It’s true that when he misses things he shuts up too much and it becomes difficult to talk to and advise him. That’s not my role.

“He wants everything to be perfect and that’s not possible.”

Balotelli can help Nice achieve something big this season

Balotelli has an opportunity to help Nice achieve something special this season.

His side currently sit third in the Ligue 1 table, level on points with Paris Saint-Germain, and just three behind AS Monaco with 12 matches left to play.

However, his conduct in recent weeks has been less than ideal. Instead of staying focused and disciplined, he has ended up harming both himself and his teammates.

Mino Raiola has come up with a genius solution

One man who must be sick to the back teeth of Mario’s penchant for self-sabotage is his long-suffering agent, Mino Raiola.

But the Italian-born Dutch agent, who also deals with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has thought of the perfect way to keep Balotelli out of trouble.

"I have already found the solution,” he was quoted as telling RMC by Goal, “we are going to cut his tongue out.

"To play football, you don't need a tongue, so we are going to cut it out.”

Genius!

"Seriously though,” Raiola continued, “he knows he made a big mistake - he has no excuses and it is something he knows he has to improve.

"He is sad for himself and the team."

Will Balotelli still be at Nice next season?

So, what does Raiola make of Balotelli’s chances of staying at Nice beyond the end of this season?

"It is still too early to talk about that," the 49-year-old added. "The most important thing is to have three positive months for him, the team and the people of Nice.

"After that, we will have a lot of time to talk about his future."