Former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has joined Serie A club Genoa on a free transfer.

The 34-year-old had been without a club since departing Turkish Super Lig side Adana Demirspor this summer.

Balotelli, who has 36 Italy caps, returns to playing in his home country more than three years after leaving Monza.

Part of Manchester City’s title winning squad in 2012, Balotelli joins a struggling Genoa side who sit in the relegation positions.

Genoa, managed by Alberto Gilardino, are 18th after taking six points from their opening nine games.

Balotelli made headlines for his behaviour on and off the pitch during his time in the Premier League.

At Manchester City that included a training-ground bust-up with manager Roberto Mancini, and he famously revealed a ‘why always me?’ T-shirt after scoring in a 6-1 demolition of rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Balotelli scored 30 goals in two and a half years with the Blues, helping the club win a first league title since 1968.

After a first, brief stint at AC Milan, an unsuccessful move to Liverpool in 2014 followed, which led to a loan back to the San Siro.

Since then, Balotelli has played across Europe for a number of clubs, including French sides Nice and Marseille, and Italian clubs Brescia and Monza.

A member of the Italy squad that finished as runners-up at Euro 2012, Balotelli has not played for his country since 2018.

Chelsea and Nottingham Forest have been fined £40,000 and £125,000 respectively for failing to control their players in their Premier League game earlier this month.

Both clubs admitted a Football Association charge following the incident that took place in the closing stages of the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on 6 October.

It was sparked by Forest defender Neco Williams, who pushed Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella into Blues manager Enzo Maresca, resulting in an on-pitch melee.

An independent regulatory commission acknowledged both clubs admitted guilt but said the punishment needs to reflect that it was still a “serious incident involving a large number of players from both sides”.

It issued a larger fine to Forest because this was the sixth such incident involving the club in the last three years, while it was just Chelsea’s third in five seasons.

The commission said Forest’s poor recent record and “lack of contrition” were aggravating factors, adding it saw no evidence the club is “addressing what is now becoming a serial problem”.

As a result, Chelsea were initially fined £50,000 and Forest £150,000, with both reduced for admitting the charge.

NBA legend Michael Jordan is a longtime NASCAR fan, but he only became an owner in 2021. Since then, the team known as 23XI Racing has won Cup races with Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Tyler Reddick.

But they’ve never been part of the Championship 4 — until now. Jordan was in attendance on Sunday, watching on nervously as Reddick charged from third to first over the course of the final lap, stunning his rivals and securing the victory.

As MJ headed over to the finish line to celebrate with his driver, he praised the crew chief for the aggressive call that put Reddick in position to win the race. Reddick had run longer than any other driver on fuel, pitting with 15 laps to go. Within three laps, the caution flew when the leaders tangled and Reddick stayed out on slightly older tires. Somehow, he made it work.

Race winner Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota Camry

Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images

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“Billy [Scott] made a call,” said Jordan. “Looked a little scared because we were going to run out of gas. Anything could happen. As you could see, Denny [Hamlin] was up there. Little kid [Reddick] drove his ass off. I’m proud of him.”

And his thoughts on that last-lap charge? “Oh, man, he just let go. He just went for it and I’m glad. We needed it. We needed it.”

MJ finally caught up to Reddick mid-interview, lifting him up off the ground as they embraced. “Yeah baby! Good job, kid,” he exclaimed.

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, The Beast Killer Sunrise Toyota Camry, Michael Jordan

Photo by: NASCAR Media

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Reddick has never won a Cup title before and now he’ll get the chance to race for one with the full backing of one of the biggest stars in sports. “It’s special, man,” said Reddick. “He’s dedicated a lot of his time, his efforts, his money into elevating 23XI to where it is right now. He’s fully committed to this team, to our organization.

“To be able to reward him with the days like we had today, it’s a true honor. It was really cool to see how happy he was. We’re all very happy about it.

“He believed in me. He believes in this team. The people, him, Denny, everybody else, has put together to create what 23XI is. He’s put a lot towards it. It’s really cool in these critical moments to be able to deliver for him and for everybody else that’s a part of the team.

Reddick has now delivered the basketball icon five of his eight NASCAR Cup wins as an owner since joining the team at the beginning of last year, but now, he’ll have the opportunity to get MJ the biggest prize of them all — the Bill France Cup.

A pair of title contenders are going to be very happy to hear Dana White’s comments after UFC 308.

Starting with undefeated bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov, who has been anxiously awaiting word on his title shot against Merab Dvalishvili amid calls from the champion for an immediate rematch with Sean O’Malley. While Dvalishvili made claims that Nurmagomedov was “scared” and didn’t deserve a title shot, the UFC CEO seems to disagree.

When asked about Dvalishvili’s comments, White cemented Nurmagomedov as the No. 1 contender while stating “absolutely” that’s the fight the UFC wants next.

As far as Dvalishvili hinting at other options, most notably his constant calls for a second fight against O’Malley, White also shut that down by answering “Umar” when addressing immediate plans for the bantamweight title.

White also dealt with the recent rumors that Nurmagomedov was actually working towards a fight against Song Yadong after learning that Dvalishvili wouldn’t be ready to compete again until March. That month represents the start of Ramadan and Nurmagomedov has stated that he doesn’t want to compete during the holy month when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset every day.

“Did we announce it?” White said about Nurmagomedov vs. Song. “Then no [it’s not official].”

A few weight classes higher, White also responded to inquiries about Magomed Ankalaev finally earning his long awaited title shot against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

On Saturday, Ankalaev extended his unbeaten streak to 13 straight with a unanimous decision win over Aleksandar Rakic. Ankalaev’s manager Ali Abdelaziz previously told MMA Fighting that as long as the Russian handled his business at UFC 308, then he expected a title shot would be next.

Now White is backing up those plans after watching Ankalaev’s performance on Saturday.

“He looked good,” White said about Ankalaev. “He absolutely looked great. I would have to say yes [he gets his title shot].”

With Ankalaev and Nurmagomedov in place as challengers, Pereira and Dvalishvili can respectively start planning for the future once the UFC schedule starts coming together for 2025.

EMMA RADUCANU took a trip on a London bus after having her luxury Porsche taken away by the company.

The tennis star has had an injury-hit few years but did play consistently this year before damaging ligaments in her foot this month.

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She reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon and the semi-final at the Rothesay Open, losing to compatriot Katie Boulter.

Earlier this month she had her beloved Porsche taken back by the car manufacturer, so she has had to use public transport to get around the capital.

She swapped the front seat of her £125,000 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet for a London red bus heading towards west London.

Raducanu has been a big Porsche fan since childhood as one of her first tennis coach would always show up with one of the famous brand’s sports cars.

However her dream of owning one now appears to be over.

One of Raducanu’s associates reportedly said: “Emma no longer has a Porsche.

“They took it back. It used to have pride of place at her home.”

Porsche confirmed Raducanu does not possess one of their cars but had been loaned out a vehicle as part of her sponsorship deal.

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A spokesperson said: “While we do on occasion loan Emma a car, this is very much on an ad hoc basis.

“Emma Raducanu is a global brand ambassador for Porsche and there have not been any changes within our successful partnership since it started in 2022. We are very happy with our partnership.”

The torture of Qualifying School or a return to the more humble surrounds of the Challenge Tour beckoned. The weeks away from his newborn son could have been rendered a waste of the most precious time in anyone’s life.

Through the back of the green in two lusty blows, it was now down to touch, feel and nerve. Penge coaxed his chip to five feet, a decent effort.

The birdie putt was straight up the slope to the target. He had holed thousands of such putts on his way to joining Europe’s elite tour; now he needed one more to keep his fledgling career afloat.

He stroked the ball with an assured touch and it duly disappeared.

“I was so relieved,” he said. “My body was shaking, I felt really emotional.”

He promised himself a good meal that night, fortification to complete a job only half done. This was his 10th week in the past 11 striving for the Race to Dubai points that would leave him in the top 114 places in the DP World Tour standings.

In that intensive closing stretch of the season he had posted his best finish at the Irish Open where he shared 12th place, but missed six cuts. In Incheon last weekend he still needed to climb around 30 places on the leaderboard to complete the job.

A third-round 69 gave Penge, who had begun his pro career on the lowly EuroPro tour in 2017, a sniff of keeping his card. A bogey-free front nine on Sunday was completed in two under par but a big finish was still required.

He was not going to win, the title was a duel between Tom Kim and eventual champion Ben An, which was just the contest the home fans wanted to see. Penge’s battle, though, was way more intense and pressurised.

The Clitheroe-based Englishman responded with three birdies in the last five holes. A closing 67 elevated Penge to a share of 22nd and brought enough points to finish 110th in the standings.

His playing privileges were secured with just four places to spare. “It’s probably the best I’ve played all year,” he smiled.

“To play the way I did under the pressure I was under, I’m pretty speechless right now and just over the moon that it is done.”

After such a marathon stint, his thoughts turned immediately to home. “My son was born four months ago and I feel like I’ve been with him for about a week,” he added. “These times are worth it.”

Penge won last year’s Challenge Tour Grand Final. He is a talented player, who enjoyed a fine amateur career including victory in the prestigious McGregor Trophy.

But all of those who spent last week scrapping for their cards are highly skilled golfers trying to cope with the unique pressures of an unforgiving individual sport.

“I suffer with performance anxiety as it is,” Penge admitted. “It is just who I am as a person, it is how I was born.

“Certain scenarios I find really tough when I’m out on the course.”

He revealed that before that final round he had woken in the early hours and engaged in long phone conversations with his wife and coach. They told him that “it didn’t matter” and that “there was more to life than this”.

Penge added: “The pressure that us guys have to deal with is immense, especially when you are trying to keep your card out here.

“This was my first year and I don’t want to fall back. I feel like I deserve to be here and feel like I’m good enough to be here.

“The past six weeks have been a bit nervy but what I did was was just work as hard as I possibly could, that’s all you can do and hope that takes care of everything else.”

Ultimately it did, but others were less fortunate. Surviving on tour can be a brutal business, as fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell can attest.

The 33-year-old from Oxfordshire has won twice on tour. He played each of the last 11 weeks of the regular season in an effort to keep his card.

Pepperell was tantalisingly close, firing a closing 68 in Korea to finish 34th in the tournament but climbing only four spots to 120th in the standings.

He can reflect on what might have been from so many of the tournaments in that closing stretch. What if he had not taken nine at the 16th in the second round of the Alfred Dunhill Links when he was lying a comfortable 20th on the leaderboard?

But that is the brutal nature of professional golf in the strata below those chasing major titles and Ryder Cup berths. It is what gives the game its sporting integrity, what makes it worth watching, even when titles are not on the line.