The World Cup winner has reached the end of his tether with the misfiring Nice striker, whose future at the club looks bleak
Sacked Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is not the only boss to have failed to harness a high-profile player for the benefit of his club this season.
While Paul Pogba appears to have come out on top in the clash of personalities at Old Trafford, around 1,500 kilometres to the south east, former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira has tried and failed to get a handle on the mercurial Mario Balotelli in Nice.
It has been a campaign in which nothing has gone right for the Italian, who got off on entirely on the wrong foot with his new coach in the summer when he appeared late and out-of-shape for pre-season training.