Gianmarco Balotti

Gianmarco Gennaro Balotti (28 July 1984 in Milazzo) is an Italian footballer who plays for Helmond Real Sport Club in Brunant as a midfielder. Balotti played for ACR Messina (2003-2005), US Catanzaro 1929 (2005-2011) and US Città Palermo (2011-2014).

Biography
Balotti was born in Milazzo as son of Gennaro Antoni Balotti and Paola Camilla Pino. His brothers Alfonso and Giuseppe played basketball but Gianmarco joined Sicilian team ACR Messina. He made his debut for the first team in 2003 under coach Bartolo Mutti in the Serie A, the top of the Italian football league system. During his early times at Messina, Balotti never broke into the first team and he was evantually loaned out to US Catanzaro 1929.

In 2006, he was bought by Catanzaro. The team was hit by poor results but Balotti's play was rewarded with several awards. He signed a new contract with Catanzaro in October 2010. In August 2011, he was heavily linked with a move to another team. The move was subsequently confirmed on 3 September 2011 and US Città di Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini bought Balotti. Palermo paid a €150,000 transfer fee to US Catanzaro 1929 for the move. Balotti officialy joined the Sicilians' squad and made his professional debut for Palermo on 21 September 2011 playing 24 minutes in a 3-2 victory at home to Cagliari Calcio. They won the 2013-14 Serie B later. He played less regularly since the 2013-14 season due an injury.

He was signed by Helmond Real Sport Club for €200,000, with whom he signed a contract for three years. On 29 December 2014, Helmond announced on their website that they had bought Italian midfielder Gianmarco Balotti. The footballer had interest from many teams. He would play with the number 15 and from January next year, he trained with the first team.