As we have pointed out, the writing had been on the wall for Mario at Internazionale for months before he finally left the club and headed for a welcome reunion with Mancini at Man City. Inter boss Mourinho had made it clear he didn’t see the boy as having a future at the San Siro as long as he remained manager. Sure, the Portuguese never denied that Mario had the talent needed to become an international superstar – but he also claimed he was ‘unmanageable’. Part of the problem was the perennial one when two such strong, self-opinionated characters came together: This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.
Mourinho is the type of manager who likes to bask in the limelight and to steal all the publicity, whether bad or good. He does not care for sharing the glory – or the flashes from the paparazzi’s lenses. No, he has to be the main man and no player or executive in the club is allowed to step on his ego. That can lead to problems – as he found to his cost with Roman Abramovich at Chelsea. Certainly there could only be one man running that club – and it was never going to be Jose. He found himself sidelined then sacked, much to his shock as Roman let it be known exactly who was boss at Stamford Bridge.
But when he took over at the San Siro he was given total control of team affairs by owner Moratti – and Mourinho was determined to break Balotelli, or get rid of him.
As we have already seen, there would be many incidents of conflict involving the manager and the young striker, but matters started to come to a head during April 2010. Inter beat Barcelona 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final clash at the San Siro much to Mourinho’s delight. The manager had dreamed of this moment: he had been perpetually irritated that the Barca fans dismissed his achievements in the game and referred to him as ‘the interpreter’ – a reference to the time he served at the Camp Nou as interpreter to Bobby Robson.
Now his Inter team had taken a crucial step to winning the Champions League with the two-goal lead they would now go to Barcelona with for the second leg. It was Jose’s moment – but his limelight would now be stolen by an incident involving Balotelli. The striker was brought on as a sub after 75 minutes and was quickly annoyed by the subdued reaction of the Inter fans to his arrival. He then reacted angrily at full-time, taking off his shirt and throwing it to the ground. Mario, still only 19, had already gestured to the crowd after shooting wide, and now marched angrily towards the tunnel, giving a middle-finger salute to the Inter fans – ruining Mourinho’s moment of satisfaction.
After the match then Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic claimed that Inter defender Marco Materazzi attacked team-mate Balotelli in the players’ tunnel. ‘I saw that Materazzi was attacking him in the players’ tunnel and I’ve never seen anything like it,’ Ibrahimovic told Italian TV station RAI. ‘If I were him, I’d have left Mario alone, but Materazzi was attacking him and I was stunned. If Materazzi had attacked me like that, I would’ve decked him in a second! Materazzi was causing all sorts of trouble and in the Barcelona locker room we were amazed, all talking about it. A player should be proud after a win, not chase down a youngster to berate him.’
Materazzi wasn’t the only employee of Inter angered by Mario’s strop. Captain Javier Zanetti said he was ‘disappointed that a celebration was ruined with something like this. If the fans whistle at him he’s got to understand that it could depend on a lot of different things. We’ve always stood by him.’
And Dejan Stankovic said: ‘He’s like a child. I’m a father of three kids and we can’t take him by the collar, too. He’s suffered, but I’ve suffered too with the fans. He’s reacted poorly, but he’s still got time.’
Mourinho himself was far from happy with Balotelli. ‘I have been at Inter since July 2008,’ he said. ‘If I try to remember all the times I’ve tried to educate a great talent, there are thousands and thousands. This is a Champions League semi-final, the second most important tie in club football, and something ugly happened.’
Inter CEO Ernesto Paolillo promised to clamp down on Mario, telling ESPN, ‘Balotelli’s gesture was terrible. Just terrible. It is something we are going to have to discuss. Will he be punished? Absolutely, yes.’
Of course Mario was out of order – but it struck me that Mourinho, who had got on his moral high horse over the boy’s antics, now had his own tantrum at the post match Press conference as he lashed out at Barcelona, mocking them in defeat! Barca had felt they should have had a penalty but he ridiculed them, pointing out that in the previous year’s semi-final his then Chelsea team had had several realistic claims for spot kicks turned down against Barca by (the admittedly hopeless) Norwegian ref Tom Henning Ovrebo. Mourinho scoffed, ‘It’s a pity. A year ago Chelsea were crying and Barca were laughing with the referee. They laughed because he denied my Chelsea boys their rightful place.’
It would surely have been more appropriate for Mourinho to be generous in victory, but no he could not resist a nasty dig – just minutes after criticising young Mario. But the dispute between Mario and his team-mates that night only served to emphasise the gulf that had developed between them. Mario’s days were, clearly, numbered at the San Siro. Surely enough, a couple of weeks later, his agent Mino Raiola confirmed that Mario and Jose had reached the point of no return. Raiola said: ‘It’s certain that he can’t go on like this. Mario won’t be staying another year at Inter like this, I can guarantee that. Over the last eight to nine months no one in the club has been protecting Mario.
‘Mario is not perfect, just like Mourinho is not horrible. But Mourinho needs a common enemy for himself and the team and Balotelli fell into the trap. Sometimes in training he’s even scared. Mario was sure that this would be his year, that he’d be first choice for club and country.’
But Inter Milan were at pains to play down the idea of Balotelli leaving. Unlike Mourinho, the club’s executives truly believed in his talent and wanted him to stay at the club, and by now Rafa Benitez had replaced the Portuguese as boss. Even as late as July 2010, the Inter bosses denied that either Mario or Brazilian full-back Maicon would be sold. The club’s technical director Marco Branca said, ‘We will consider offers, but they are not transfer listed,’ Branca told the Inter website. ‘How much is Balotelli worth? He doesn’t have a price.’
But he did have a price – and he would be gone before too long…within a month of Branca’s denials, in fact.
It was suggested that Mario would now head to England and the Premier League – with many pundits claiming he would end up at the Emirates Stadium given the emphasis Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger always put on players being old enough if they were good enough. And no one, not even Mourinho, had ever denied that Mario wasn’t good enough to make it at the very top of the game.
But those who knew Mario better also knew that there could only be one real destination when he left Italy: he would head to Man City to once again link up with his mentor, Mancini. Certainly the fans who had followed Mario’s career with interest realised that was going to be the most likely outcome. One supporter said, ‘Mancini is like his dad. When they were at Inter together he worked well with Mancini. It’s like Bellamy with Mark Hughes – he’ll head to Mancini.’
Another fan, Phil, gave an eloquent explanation of why either Mancini or Wenger would be ideal for Balotelli, ‘As a Man City fan, I think either my club OR Arsenal would be perfect for Balotelli. The last thing he needs now is to go into a fishbowl existence at Man Utd or Chelsea. Both Mancini and Wenger are just the type to nurture Balotelli and understand that he is a world-beating talent who is going to need some time and space to grow as a footballer and as a person.’
Brilliantly put, Phil. That was just what Mario needed at this stage of his life and career – and he would now get it at City, with Mancini mentoring him once again.
In the second week of August it became clear that Balotelli had only one destination in mind – Mancini and City. The Guardian correctly predicted the fee and the salary of the deal, ‘Mario Balotelli looks set to complete a £22.5m move from Internazionale to Manchester City in the next 48 hours, having departed Milan for Manchester with his agent Mino Raiola this morning. “We are close with Balotelli,” Mancini said. “Hopefully today or tomorrow. Mario is on his way here today.” Raiola spent yesterday afternoon in Milan resolving the final details of an agreement with Inter’s technical director, Marco Branca, and the club’s lawyer Angelo Capellini. Personal terms have already been agreed, and the striker is expected to sign a five-year deal worth €3.5m (£2.875m) a year on completion of a medical at City’s training ground today.’
Being Balotelli, he would, naturally, have to sign for the Blues on a date you would remember (or probably would rather not if you were superstitious!) – it was Friday August 13, 2010, that he finally put pen to paper. Unlucky for some, but Mario was overjoyed at the prospect of joining up with the one man who had always stood by him once again.
The Sun proclaimed Mario’s signing as an exciting one, but, like most newspapers, warned that the boy had an explosive side to his nature too, ‘Mario Balotelli has completed his £22million move from Inter Milan to Manchester City. The striker flew into England today to undergo a medical, before signing a five-year deal at Eastlands.
‘While Balotelli is one of the hottest prospects in Italian football, he enjoyed a love-hate relationship with former Inter boss Jose Mourinho. It appears the 20-year-old also failed to impress new San Siro chief Rafa Benitez, yet new boss Roberto Mancini – who coached him during their time at Inter – is confident the switch to Eastlands will revitalise the temperamental star.’
City’s website, www.mcfc.co.uk officially announced the signing on the 13th, saying, ‘Manchester City is delighted to announce that the signing of Mario Balotelli from Inter Milan has been completed for an undisclosed fee. The striker, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Thursday, completed his medical this lunchtime before putting pen to paper on his five-year contract at the City of Manchester Stadium.
‘Roberto Mancini, who worked with Mario during his time in charge at the San Siro, said: “I think that Mario is one of the best players of his age in Europe, and I am very happy to be working with him again. His style of play will suit the Premier League, and because he is still so young there is a big chance for him to improve. He is a strong and exciting player, and City fans will enjoy watching him.” The Palermo-born frontman faced the Toure brothers during his first senior international appearance earlier this week, but he will not be available for City’s first game of the season at White Hart Lane on Saturday.’
Mancini would add more compliments, saying, ‘He can play on the wing, as a first striker, a second striker. He’s a fantastic player and I genuinely believe in one or two years he will be one of the best players in the world. He’s a young guy, just 20 years old, and he has a strong character but he is a good guy, you know. And, most importantly, he is a fantastic footballer. He’s just young and, like all young guys, sometimes his behaviour is different, but it’s false to say he is not a good man. I’ve known Mario for three years and I had enough confidence to put him in the first team when he was 17. I have got to know him very well and, OK, sometimes his behaviour is not good, but he is a good man. I think he needs to improve, like a lot of young guys, but I don’t think he will have big problems. In England I think Balotelli could be even more of a fantastic player. He can improve here. He is changing country, changing his club, and I think that will be better for him overall.’
On his own website, mariobalotelli.it, Balotelli admitted he would have preferred to stay in Italy, but that he was grateful for the chance to move to England as it would hopefully give him the space and freedom he needed to grow as a player and a person, ‘I’m sorry that I’m leaving Inter and Italy because I would have preferred to continue my 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.
‘It’s been a difficult year. I’ve recognised my mistakes, but I think I’ve often been under pressure and on the receiving end of criticism that at times has irritated me. Now all I’m thinking about is playing well for my new club and in the Premier League. I really want to give it my best try! I’d like to thank my family, who have supported me with so much patience and affection, through both the good times and the difficult periods. I also want to thank club chairman Moratti, the team I’ve shared so many victories with, the fans who’ve supported me, my entourage and my friends.’
The sentiments shared by Balotelli understandably worried some City fans – that his heart might not be in the City ‘project’ and that his time and commitment to the club would be fleeting. One City fan said there could be a problem but urged patience, ‘He just needs his attitude sorting out, which should be no problem under Mancini at City – most of his problems stemmed from the Inter fans’ treatment of him. What do you think turned the Inter fans against him? I would imagine it wouldn’t have been for the hell of it. For a young man he seems to have a problem upstairs.’
But another felt the signing was already a big gamble, ‘Balotelli is clearly a very talented player, but his temperament and attitude could be a big problem. His interview says it all really. As someone else pointed out he thanked his “entourage”, and after joining a new club, in another country, the first thing you say shouldn’t be, “I didn’t want to leave where I was”. Already he doesn’t want to be there!’
But yet another fan made the valid point that Balotelli could be ‘the business’ for City, if he was given a chance – that he had all the necessary attributes to be a big success, even bigger and better than Wayne Rooney, ‘When Rooney was 18, he scored 9 in 34 games in the Premier League. When Balotelli was 18, he scored 8 in 22 games whilst playing as a wide forward in Serie A, the most defensive league in the world. Balotelli is strong, quicker, taller and better in the air than Rooney was at his age, and to top it off is a very good set-piece taker. Even as an English football fan, there is no doubt that Balotelli has the potential to be better than Rooney. It’s just typical English bias if you think otherwise.’
Another backer of Balotelli was a City fan in Sydney, Australia, who said, ‘To me, this signing trumps them all. Robinho, Carlos Tevez, David Silva…the lot. A kid, who by the age of 20, has three Serie A titles, a Champions League medal, and the footballing world at his feet. He could very well be our Cristiano Ronaldo, or at the very least, our Wayne Rooney. Very, very happy days indeed.’
Certainly City defender Kolo Toure believed that Balotelli would be a huge success at City. The Ivory Coast star had faced Mario in an international match against Italy, just before Balotelli joined the Blues – and admitted he had been a handful to keep in check. Toure said, ‘He is perfect for the English game. He reminds me of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, these type of guys. They have a really strong mentality and, in the Premier League, we like those kind of players.’
Even then Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti felt Balotelli would run riot in the Premier League, having witnessed his development while manager at AC Milan. Ancelotti said, ‘Mario is a crazy talent. With him Manchester City will challenge for the title, not just fourth. England is ideal for him. There is too much pressure on young players in Italy, and there is almost no racism to contend with in England.’
Mancini had no doubts about Balotelli’s ability and potential to make it big in England. He showed just how much he rated Mario by immediately dropping Roque Santa Cruz from City’s Europa League squad so that he could instead accommodate Balotelli in it. The manager had taken advantage of a rule that permitted clubs to make one late change to their original squad for the knockout round – and Balotelli benefited by immediately being parachuted in. It showed just how much Mancini rated him – that he would toss aside a proven international in Santa Cruz for him.
Mancini would now throw Mario in for his debut in the Europa League knockout stage first-leg match against FC Timisoara. Before the game Mario was at pains to claim that he was not ‘the bad boy’ the likes of Mourinho had claimed him to be. He said, ‘I am not a bad boy. They say this in Italy, but I am just a normal guy. I really don’t know why I have a reputation as a “bad boy”, but I don’t care about it. And as for Mourinho, he is not my coach now and I don’t want to talk about him. The reason I wanted to be here at City was because of the manager and because it is a good environment for me to improve.’
Balotelli admitted that the racist chanting at grounds in Italy had ‘hurt him’ and that he wanted to move to England to be with Mancini, but also to get away from that abuse. He was aware that racial abuse at grounds in England was a thing of the past and that the country was a much more multicultural one than Italy. He said he was ‘concerned’ that he might suffer abuse from the terraces in Romania – where racism in football was still not under control – but that that prospect would not stop him making his debut for City, or, hopefully, enjoying it too.
Mario said, ‘I just want to play. I’m not thinking about what might happen. Racism is something that has really bothered me but I’ve learned how to deal with it, by pretending that it doesn’t hurt. As far as I know there is no racism in English football. There were two or three incidents in Italy. I hope I don’t have them again.’
Well, Mario would get off to a flier in the Europa League clash in Romania. City had been struggling to break down a dogged and determined FC Timisoara and Mancini decided to bring on Balotelli just before the hour mark in an attempt to shake things up and hopefully add an injection of urgency to proceedings. The move worked a treat – within 15 minutes of emerging, Mario had scored the goal that would divide the two clubs, earning City a 1-0 win on the night and sending them home confident they would put the tie to bed in the return leg in Manchester.
The only downside was when the young Italian striker picked up a knock in injury-time. He had scored and got injured on his debut – typical Mario, as they say back in Italy, never goes quietly into any situation! Mancini was delighted with his boy’s debut showing, saying, ‘He had a great debut. I am happy he scored. He’s a good player. He needs to improve of course and get to know everybody. It was the first time he had played with the team. We must work on this with him because it will be different in the Premier League than in Italy.’
Of his injury, Mancini added, ‘We do not think it is serious. It was probably just a kick, it is not a problem. It was a difficult game for us because Timisoara are a good team and they played very well in the first half. In the end, it is a good result for us. But they made it difficult for us by getting so many players behind the ball. All the players played well, especially in the second half and we moved the ball quickly. I think we deserved to score another goal because we had three or four good chances.’
The media were impressed. They now realised that City had bought a powerhouse of a footballer – as well as a controversial one. The Mail’s Colin Young said, ‘So this is what all the fuss was about, then. In the space of 15 minutes Mario Balotelli nearly grabbed a hat-trick, escaped a booking, got two lectures from the referee, did earn one yellow card, squared up to the opposition captain and needed treatment from the medics in injury time.
‘Oh, and he scored the winner. Audiences back home were denied the chance to see the 20-year-old’s City debut, but on this evidence, they will be in for a treat when he is unleashed on the Barclays Premier League.’
Meanwhile, the Sun’s Martin Blackburn also made the point that City fans had surely now found a new hero to worship – a hero and an undoubted showman who could light up even the dullest of games. Blackburn said, ‘Keep your eyes on Mario Balotelli – he’s going to be great box office at Manchester City. The 20-year-old so-called bad boy of Italian football showed both sides of his character just days after joining from Inter Milan. It is difficult to imagine a more explosive debut than the 33-minute cameo he made here in Romania. He spared City’s blushes by slamming in an Emmanuel Adebayor cross to finally break down stubborn Timisoara just 15 minutes after coming on.
‘But he also picked up a yellow card for squaring up to an opponent – and could have had another for flattening a defender while going for a header. Then he went agonisingly close on two occasions before ending the night with lengthy treatment after being clattered late on. One thing’s for sure, it won’t be dull at Eastlands with him around. And we were all grateful as he brought this Europa League play-off tie to life after 57 minutes of boredom.’
City’s official website were also purring over Mario’s debut, ‘Mario Balotelli lived up to his “Super Mario” nickname with an explosive cameo off the subs bench in Timisoara this evening. The powerful former Inter Milan striker scored the only goal in City’s 1-0 win over their Romanian opponents to take help the Blues take a huge step towards the group stages of the Europa League ahead of next week’s return in Manchester. Balotelli stroked home the winner on 71 minutes after great work by Yaya Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor. If this is a taste of things to come, the City fans may have just found a new hero.’
Mario himself was just as pleased with his 33-minute cameo debut in Romania and promised City fans there was much more to come from him. Balotelli said: ‘I feel good, this is the kind of debut I dreamed of. I showed up for Manchester City immediately and I will continue to show up for them. These are only the first games we are playing together but we will get better and better. My right leg aches a bit. I think it may be a cartilage thing, the problem is I do not have much muscle there. It’s a bit of a problem, but I’m sure I will be available against Liverpool.’
He really did want to make his Premier League debut against Liverpool the following Monday night. It was the night that the club’s owner Sheikh Mansour would make his first visit to Eastlands to watch the team. But it was not to be: the injury was worse than expected and kept him on the sidelines, although the Sheikh was still delighted by what he saw as City ran out 3-0 winners.
Before the match, Mancini had once again bigged up Mario, saying he had the potential to be a better striker than Liverpool’s then centre-forward Fernando Torres and had the world at his feet. Roberto said, ‘Balotelli could be as good as Torres and even better. Torres can only play as a striker, Balotelli can play as striker and a winger. He has a different attitude. What is sure is that we are talking about two fantastic players. The defenders do not know much about Mario, but they will see he can change everything about a game. I saw him four years ago when I was at Inter Milan. He was 16 or 17. It was the last five games of the Serie A championship. We had Ibrahimovic injured and we played Mario inside and he played like someone who was 30 years old. That’s because he has good technique, he has everything.’
It was some billing for the new young striker – now City fans were impatient to see him in action in England. They wouldn’t have to wait long…