Is this the first photo of the life-sized Mario Balotelli statue that was rumoured to have been commissioned by the Italian star for his house?

The controversial striker is believed to have wanted himself in the image of his goal celebration after scoring Italy’s second goal against Germany in the Euro 2012 semi-final.

Mario tweeted that he wanted to show his followers the statue, but that he couldn’t because it was a secret:

I wanted to show you my statue but that s a secret ;-)

— Mario Balotelli (@FinallyMario) August 11, 2013

… but, thanks to some encouragement from former team-mate Shaun Wright-Phillips:

@FinallyMario go on show us Hope all is well bro

— Shaun W-Phillips (@swp29) August 11, 2013

… 2 minutes later Mario tweeted a snap:

Ahah what is this? Ahah have a good day everybody!! pic.twitter.com/DzPc0NKQhz

— Mario Balotelli (@FinallyMario) August 11, 2013

Back in February artist Livio Scarpella told Il Giornale di Brescia:

I have received the commission, but I’ve never met Balotelli so I am working from photos.

I presented several drawings but Mario wanted to be immortalised in a pose that shows him having scored a goal, highlighting his muscles and with an expression of defiance.

I have imagined him as an athlete from ancient times and the statue will be a mix of classical and pop style in platinum and coloured bronze with the eyes made of stones.