New Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini knows what it is all about managing Italian striker Mario Balotelli, and thinks that any manager who has the 24-year-old at their club needs to be paid double wages.
Balotelli joined Liverpool from AC Milan last summer for £16 million and is yet to score a single Premiership goal, leading Mancini to believe that the strikers form has dropped to rock bottom.
“In the Inter shirt with me he was a boy, he would have done anything, even cleaning the locker rooms,” Mancini told Corriere della Sera.
“At City, he was well-behaved for two-and-a-half years. With Mario it’s never easy – what you tell him goes in through one ear, and out from the next. But I owe him gratitude.
“Mario used to go out with my sons and the fact that they were more or less of an age was something that helped me build a relationship with him.
“As a person I feel a strong affection towards him. He is a good person, someone who acts with his heart. I think he’s doing his very best at Liverpool. It’s all up to him. He is still young; he has the strength to get back up.
“As for his head, well, he does have to find that. After leaving City he became weaker in every aspect of the game.
“I was convinced he could do well in Milan, but that was not the case. I have no clue what his medicine could be, but anyone coaching him should be paid double – a Balotelli indemnity.”
The Italian trainer went on to compare Balotelli to Brazilian striker Adriano who was once one of the world’s best strikers, but now plays in France for Ligue 2 side Le Havre after a career surrounded by controversy.
“He risks ending up like Adriano,” Mancini claimed. “Maybe for different reasons, but that’s what he could end up like.”
