MARSEILLE, Jan 23 — French side Marseille have finally secured the signing of Mario Balotelli from Nice after agreeing to take on the remaining six months of the Italian striker’s contract, sources said yesterday.

The 28-year-old has a reputation of being difficult to manage but has played for clubs such as Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool and more recently Nice, as well as scoring 14 goals in 36 games for Italy.

Sources told AFP that ‘Super Mario’ will undergo a medical today, but would not be available for this weekend’s Ligue 1 game with Lille.

"Balotelli is our number one priority,” Marseille coach Rudi Garcia said this week.

Marseille are seventh in Ligue 1 and have struggled to score after failing in an attempt to bring Balotelli to the Stade Velodrome in the summer.

The club’s two main strikers, Valere Germain and Kostas Mitroglou, have scored just three goals each so far this season. Balotelli netted 18 league goals from 28 appearances for Nice last term, but has failed to open his account in this campaign. — AFP