The former Italy international is seemingly a changed man but does he have sufficient time to resurrect his career now that he has been sidelined by injury until the New Year?
When Liverpool made the surprising decision to sign Mario Balotelli in August, 2015, then manager Brendan Rodgers assured concerned supporters that the enigmatic striker knew that he was on his "last chance" to prove himself at a big club.
Almost exactly 12 months later, Adriano Galliani defended AC Milan's decision to re-sign the 25-year-old on loan by saying: "Mario knows that this is absolutely his last chance.