Mario Balotelli’s stand-off with his club Brescia appeared to continue on Tuesday morning when the striker was apparently sent home from training only moments after arriving.

The former Italy forward joined the Serie A club in 2019 after failing to agree to a long-term deal at previous club Marseilles, but has been absent from training in recent weeks after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis.

According to Sky Italy, the player sent the club an email on Monday informing them he would be returning to training, but nobody at Brescia had seen the correspondence and so no training had been prepared for him.

As Balotelli walked away, following a brief conversation with a club employee, he is reported to have said to media, “now say that I don’t want to train”.

It represents a further setback in the deteriorating relationship between player and club, with Brescia having stated last month that they are keen to move Balotelli on. A mutual termination deal drawn up by the club has already been rejected by the player, with president Massimo Cellino saying the deal to sign him was a “mistake”.

The 29-year-old scored five goals in 19 league games for the club before Serie A was suspended due to Italy’s coronavirus outbreak.