JAKARTA - Roberto Mancini admitted that he was disappointed with the development of Mario Balotelli's career which had faded in recent years.
Balotelli was once Mancini's mainstay when he brought Inter Milan to the Italian League champions and Manchester City to the Premier League champions.
In addition, Balotelli is also a regular in the Gli Azzurri squad, but the 31-year-old striker now only wears Adana Demirspor, a club that has just been promoted to the top tier of the Turkish league.
"I worked with Balotelli when he was young and everything went well. In my eyes he is still a player with great technique," Mancini told RAI Sport as quoted by Reuters on Monday.
Techniques Direktörümüz Vincenzo Montella!✅#AdanaDemirspor pic.twitter.com/7kglbofM3S
— Adana Demirspor (@AdsKulubu) September 5, 2021
"Obviously it's disappointing for all of us who know him personally that in the last five or six years he hasn't been able to reach his full potential."
In Mancini's last two seasons in charge of Inter, Balotelli helped the Nerazzurri win the Italian League. He then moved to City in 2010 and a season later helped The Citizens win the Premier League.
Balotelli is also one of the top scorers of Euro 2012 and spearheaded Italy for the 2014 World Cup, but in the last seven years he has only been called up for Gli Azzurri.
Balotelli has often been subjected to racist attacks in Italy, something that even today is common among black players in that country.
Apart from that, his career has almost never been without controversy, including a minor scuffle with Mancini when he failed to score in City's pre-season game because he tried to kick with the heel but missed.
After a loan spell with AC Milan in 2013/14, Balotelli was bought by Liverpool but played only 16 times in two seasons of his contract and eventually traveled to OGC Nice, Marseille, Brescia and Monza before landing for promoted Turkish side Adana Demirspor.
"Don't forget he is 31 years old, he should be at the peak of his career by now," said Mancini.
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