Mario Balotelli’s Manchester City career in full
July 6th 2010 – Mino Raiola, agent “Was there a real offer from City? Yes, there was but it is not for me to say. Mario Balotelli’s situation is calm. He is an Inter player. There are no negotiations, hence, he will remain at Inter.”
July 10th 2010 – Balotelli “Roberto Mancini? He’s a great coach, I debuted in Serie A with him because he is a great friend. If he and (Sir Alex) Ferguson want me, it means I’m not as bad as I thought. United is a great club. They have not seen the real Balotelli, for sure I need to learn and achieve more goals. I want to win the Golden Ball in 2011.”
August 13th 2010 – Balotell signs for Manchester City “I’m sorry that I’m leaving Inter and Italy because I would have preferred to continue my professional career in my own country. I’m going where I hope to find the space I need to play which is very important to me: I need to play, to make mistakes, to learn and to play again. As well as a calm environment around me.”
August 19th 2010 – Balotelli scores on his début in a 1-0 win over FC Timisoara in the Europa League
August 23rd 2010 – Roberto Mancini, City manager “I think that Balotelli could be as good as Torres and even better than him. That’s because Torres can only play as a striker. Balotelli can play as a striker and as a winger. He has a different attitude from Torres.”
August 28th 2010 – Balotelli crashed his car in Manchester but was unharmed
September 8th 2010 – Balotelli will miss two months after requiring knee surgery
September 9th 2010 – Balotelli “I’m pleased for the words of Galliani. I like AC Milan, they are a strong team.”
September 10th 2010 – Balotelli sang the AC Milan anthem out of the window at his hospital in Pavia to fans and journalists before leaning out and shouting ‘Forza Milan!’
November 3rd 2010 – Roberto Mancini “It is better that he doesn’t talk, just play. He needs to get a focus on the match. He has been out for a long time and now just needs to play games. Maybe he still needs to understand English football, like David Silva when he first arrived. It took David two months to adapt and maybe it will take Mario the same. But people will see that he is a fantastic player.”
November 7th 2010 – Balotelli scores twice before being sent off against West Brom
November 17th 2010 – Balotelli “One day I’d like to come back playing with Ibrahimovic – and I’m not bothered which shirt it is in.”
November 18th 2010 – Balotelli “The likelihood is that I will be at City up to June. I have a five-year contract and I can’t say anything. It’s true that I had supper with Galliani after the derby.”
November 23rd 2010 – Zlatan Ibrahimovic “This summer he called me every day because I went to Manchester City with him. Mario is a great player who will do well in England… I’m glad he wants to play with me, but to do it Mario must come here at Milan. Will I call him? No, he must call Galliani.”
December 3rd 2010 – Balotelli and Jerome Boateng had to be pulled apart after a training ground clash
December 21st 2010 – Balotelli pipped Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere to the Golden Boy 2010 “I don’t know who Wilshere is but the next time I play against Arsenal I will keep a close eye on him.”
December 22nd 2010 – Balotelli “I want to be the best player in the world. It is good to have ambition. I’ve said in the past that I don’t care what other people want or expect of me because I know what I want. I am really happy to have won the Golden Boy 2010, but who else should have won it if not me? Two years ago I finished sixth and in 2009 in fourth. Now it is my turn. Now my objective is to win the Ballon d’Or without age limits. To win the Golden Boy is a good omen to win the main prize. I am now a candidate for that. There is only one player who is a little stronger than me – Messi. All the others are behind me.”
January 18th 2011 – Balotelli “Do I envy Cassano for going to AC Milan? A little. Silvio Berlusconi said that Cassano is the best Italian talent – he’s wrong or doesn’t know Balotelli. Me with Ibra and Cassano at Milan? It’ll happen soon. For this year, and another, I will stay at City where I’m fine.”
February 28th 2011 – Roberto Mancini “I am not happy with Mario. I know him very well and I know he can play better. He can play for the team. He scored a fantastic goal, but there were still 70 minutes left. He can’t lose the ball all the time. Every time the ball went to the front, we didn’t keep it.”
March 4th 2011 – Roberto Mancini “He is not listening to me. I speak but I don’t think he listens. It is not important that he doesn’t listen to me. What is important is that he does well, that he scores. But I know he can do better because I know his quality. He can change every game if he wants. He could score in every game.”
March 11th 2011 – Balotelli’s face swells up as he suffers from an allergic reaction to grass during Manchester City’s deafeat against Dynamo Kiev
March 18th 2011 – Balotelli sent off in crucial game against Dynamo Kiev which sees Manchester City knocked out of the Europa League “If it stays 11 versus 11, we would have probably scored two or three goals,” said Mancini. “I am very disappointed because in a game like this it is very difficult if you pick up a red card, and you can pick up a red card for doing something stupid. The problem for Mario is that he thinks he could be a fantastic player. But when he does something stupid like that, it is difficult for me, difficult for him and difficult for the team.”
“I am very sorry to my team-mates in particular that I got sent off so early in such an important game,” said Balotelli. “I never tried to make contact with Popov and I certainly didn’t want to hurt him. In retrospect, however, the tackle was poor.”
March 28th 2011 – Balotelli is investigated by the club after it emerged he threw darts at a youth team player at the training ground
April 5th 2011 – Sir Alex Ferguson “Even I have several emotional talents in the team. Players can also be inspired by the presence of unconventional characters. They are born with that character and that doesn’t change in one year. The problem comes if it creates an imbalance in the changing room. But players can also be inspired by the presence of unconventional characters. Balotelli is a very emotional player, just like other youngsters that have a high potential. Rooney was like that, with an explosive character, with so much will to do things that he overdid it. Now Rooney is 25 and he has matured a lot. But time is needed for Balotelli.”
May 14th 2011 – Balotelli wins the FA Cup with Manchester City, their first trophy in 35 years.
July 25th 2011 – Balotelli has a row with Mancini after being substituted in a friendly against LA Galaxy. Instead of scoring a simple tap-in, Balotelli attempted to showboat and failed, which infuriated Mancini.
“He needs to understand his behaviour has to be good in every game – not just in a final or a semi-final but every game,” said Mancini. “He knows he made a mistake. Football should always be serious and if you have a chance to score, you should score.”
August 1st 2011 – Balotelli “I am not well in Manchester, I don’t like the city. I don’t know if I will stay until the end of my contract. I’m here for now and then we’ll see.”
October 22nd 2011 – Balotelli has escaped unhurt after a firework went off in his bathroom and set his house on fire.
October 23rd 2011 – Balotelli scores twice in Manchester City’s 6-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford and revealed a t-shirt which read “Why always me?”
November 27th 2011 – Balotelli sent off in 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield
December 12th 2011 – Balotelli breaks club curfew before Manchester City’s game against Chelsea
December 15th 2011 – Balotelli and Micah Richards have to be pulled apart after a training ground bust up
December 31st 2011 – Mancini “I know he smokes. For me it is not okay – but I am not his father or his mother! If he was my son I would go to him and kick him on the arse. But he is not my son. I told him, for me it is better if you don’t smoke. I am against cigarettes – for this reason my son does not smoke. But there are players in Italy and here that do smoke. I don’t think he smokes a lot of cigarettes, five or six a day – but I told him.”
January 25th 2012 – Balotelli banned for four games for violent conduct after stamping on Scott Parker
March 7th 2012 – Balotelli is fined a week’s wages for going to a strip club and breaking a club curfew two days before Manchester City’s league game against Bolton
March 10th 2012 – Balotelli “Mancini spent a lot to get me, he had great confidence in me, so I feel more responsibility towards him, so I can’t let myself do stupid things. Every time I play well, I’m pleased for myself, but I’m also pleased for him too.”
March 27th 2012 – Balotelli gatecrashes an Inter Milan press conference as new boss Andrea Stramaccioni was being presented to the media.
April 5th 2012 – Balotelli unharmed after crashing his Bentley in Manchester
April 8th 2012 – Balotelli is sent off in a crucial Premier League game against Arsenal which Manchester City lose 1-0 “I am finished,” said Mancini. “We have six games and he will not play in the next six games.” Pushed further on whether he would try to sell Balotelli at the end of the season, Mancini replied: “Probably – but I don’t know. It depends, because Balotelli is a fantastic player. I can continue to play with Mario on the pitch. Every time, we risk one sent off, like today.”
May 13th 2012 – Balotelli wins the Premier League with Manchester City
July 2nd 2012 – Raiola, “I’m 200% certain that Mario will not return to Italy at least while I’m his agent. I have always said that Mario Balotelli is one player that could become the strongest in the world. He is probably amongst the strongest in Europe. How much is he worth? He is worth what the market says, he is one that can make a difference. In the actual market I don’t think there is a value for him but if I had to give a price I would say he is worth €250million. I say this to give a figure but you would have to ask the City owner how much he is worth.”
August 12th 2012 – Mancini, “There were four or five teams. Not just from Italy also from France. Many important teams wanted him but he’s a top player and I never thought about saying yes to any of them.”
September 21st 2012 – Reports emerge of a bust up between Mancini and Balotelli ahead of City’s game against Arsenal.
October 14th 2012 – Brian Marwood, “I think that it’s important to make a good example. I think – and we all know who we are talking about – that you will get people within the system who do not show the right values and the right behaviour.”
November 16th 2012 – Raiola, “He feels really good at City. There is no crisis between Mario and City or between Mario and Mancini. What the papers write is garbage. Not being happy at being in the stands is completely different to wanting to leave. We plan to stay at City for at least another year-and-a-half. Even if we did decide to leave tomorrow, I don’t think there are any clubs in Italy that could sign him.”
November 30th 2012 – Balotelli scored first league goal of the season.
December 16th 2012 – Balotelli planned to take City to a tribunal after disagreeing with the £340,000 fine he was given for indiscipline the season before. Three days later Balotelli had positive talks with the club and accepted the fine.
January 3rd 2013 – Mancini and Balotelli pictured in a training ground bust up.
January 5th 2013 – Mancini, “I think he should understand the career of players is very short,” said Mancini. “He is 22 – three, four or five years can pass in one second. I hope that the days arrive that he can understand that he can’t leave his quality like this. I hope for him – also if he did a lot of mistakes – he can change.”
January 8th 2013 – Silvio Berlusconi, AC Milan president “The name of Balotelli never came into my thoughts, he is a rotten apple and could infect every group where he goes, even Milan. I’m sorry to say this, but in Milan is very important to the human aspect. If you put a rotten apple in the locker room can infect all the others.”
January 30th 2013 – Balotelli agreed a four and a half year deal with AC Milan. “Being at City was an important part of my life and career. I needed to grow up like a player and as a person and it has been a very good experience for me. I will remember, too, the song that City fans had for me. It was special for me and I always liked to hear it. I hope they can still sing it sometimes. I will always be interested in Manchester City and their fortunes. I really hope that City can win the league again this year and beat United. I think there are great players at the club and a great manager too.”
February 2nd 2013 – Balotelli, “To be honest the Premier League is an amazing league and I think it is the best. The crowd and the pitch… it’s an amazing league. I don’t know in the future if I could come back. For the moment I’m here. To be a player for Milan has always been my dream so I’m very happy.”