Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids have played down speculation that Mario Balotelli is set to join them ahead of the 2020/21 season.
At the age of 30 Balotelli should be enjoying the peak of his career as a generational talent of Italian football but he finds himself training with fourth-tier club Franciacorta after being released by Brescia.
With a record of 14 international goals in 36 caps for the Azurri, Internazionale, AC Milan, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Marseille also on his CV - one could argue the player has enjoyed a memorable career thus far.
But his bad-boy image has plagued him since bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old with Lumezzane to the point where the 2009/10 treble-winner under Jose Mourinho at Inter is being linked with a move to African football.
snl24.com/kickoff understands an agent approached the Egyptian Premier League side who've spent lavishly on players ahead of next season, having forked out R120-million to sign Ramadan Sobhi from Huddersfield.
Scroll through the gallery below to see high-profile African stars still on the market
However, reports in Italy suggest that the 2019/20 CAF Confederation Cup runners-up have already tabled an offer to the nomadic striker as they look to make another major statement.
But the club's head of transfers Amr Bassiouny claims the reports are unfounded, a narrative played while Sobhi was on loan at Al Ahly last season before his move,
"Signing Mario Balotelli? Baseless reports," he said, as per KingFut. "There are many fake reports about the new signings. Pyramids have already signed great players like Ahmed Fathi and Sherif Ekramy for free."
Pyramids, who finished third in the Egyptian top-flight announced former Boca Juniors coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena on a two-year deal last week after the exit of Croatian Ante Cacic.