Roberto Mancini reveals what sparked his infamous training ground bust-up with Mario Balotelli

By James Andrew |Daily Mail|

Roberto Mancini has broken his silence on the reasons behind his infamous training ground bust up with Mario Balotelli at Manchester City in 2013.

Mancini was caught on camera squaring up to the Italian forward and grabbing him by the collar.

And now the former City boss has explained what got him so annoyed with Balotelli and why he eventually left the club that summer.

Speaking to French newspaper L’Equipe, Mancini said: ‘In a training session, I said to players not to make stupid tackles on Gael Clichy because he was just coming back from injury. And then, Mario made a strong tackle on him. I was furious.

‘I grabbed him by the collar wanting to push him but he is so strong physically I couldn’t move him. From seeing the pictures, you would think that we came to blows but nothing happened.

‘He came into conflict with some team-mates because of his behaviour, and he wanted to return to Italy. I was disappointed that he wanted to leave because he should have done so much more in an extraordinary championship.’

Balotelli’s career at Manchester City never really fulfilled its potential and after two spells at AC Milan and a failed term at Liverpool he is enjoying a resurgence on the French Riviera with Nice.

The Italian’s talent has never been questioned but it is his attitude that lets him down.

After impressing for the Italian national team at Euro 2012 – the striker has not played for his country since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Mancini added: ‘If Mario today doesn’t play for the Italy side, it is his fault. It is incredible that he is not the starting centre-forward for his national side.

‘He is the best Italian striker of the last few years. I hope Mario understands that he has to have a different attitude and think only about football. It is not that difficult.’

Mancini did have high hopes for Balotelli at City and described him as a ‘phenomenon’ after he bagged a brace in the 6-1 win over Manchester United and revealed the ‘Why always me?’ t-shirt.

He added: ‘That day, it was like Mario was grown up, an adult, and all the others were children. I would have liked to have seen him always like he was during that derby, because things come so naturally to him when he wants them to. I was happy he showed his true value.

‘And when he showed his t-shirt, I really said to myself that he is a phenomenon. Who could have thought of doing that? He’s a phenomenon in the way things come into his head.’