Mario Balotelli's boots Getty Images Three shoe companies are battling to sign soccer star Mario Balotelli to a new shoe contract. In the meantime, Balotelli has gotten creative while hiding the logos on his cleats in recent games.

After playing several games for AC Milan with his boots completely blacked out, Balotelli unveiled new cleats on Monday that were completely covered in newspaper, featuring headlines from moments during his soccer career (via golazovideos.com).

The most prominent headline in the Getty photo above is "WHY ALWAYS ME?" which refers to the famous undershirt Balotelli revealed after scoring a goal against Manchester United.

It is believed that Nike, Puma, and Adidas are competing to sign the Italian soccer star.

Here is another look at Balotelli in the newspaper boots (right) as well as his blacked-out boots.