No manager could have tried harder to turn Balotelli into aconsistently talented footballer, a team player and a responsible human being.But, in the end, even Roberto Mancini found Balotelli – as even Jose Mourinhoonce put it – "unmanageable.”
Balotelli was taking up too much of Mancini's time and concernwhen both club and manager need to focus on overtaking neighbours United at thetop of the table and make amends for their European elimination by reclaimingthe FA Cup.
City have accepted an offer of £17m with a further £2.5m inadd-ons for the 22-year-old who has taken a reduction in his £170,000-a-weekwages to facilitate the deal. Balotelli will thus exchange a footballenvironment in which he runs no risk of racist abuse from fans for annotoriously uncertain welcome on away grounds in Serie A.
The Premier champions, with an eye on the wages bill andfinancial fair play, were not expected to hurry in a replacement though theymay have second thoughts after the disappointment of Tuesday's goalless draw atstruggling QPR. That should have been an easy three points but City's attack wasdefied time and again by the brilliance of Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
Defence prospects
Mancini has ‘only' Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko tospearhead the pursuit of United; one or two injuries could prove fatal toCity's title defence prospects.
"We are so sad because Mario was an important player for us,”said Mancini, who has insisted he loves Balotelli like one of his own children."With Mario we won the Premier League and the FA Cup in two years. He's afantastic player but, for him, this could be an important chance to go back toItaly and play for a big club in Milan.
"We love Mario and he deserves to have this chance. For me, hewas not a problem. Mario was like another one of my children. You can be upsetwith him sometimes, but he's a lovely lad. "It's important for Mario to go back to Italy. It will be a goodchance for him to stay with his family, to play for Milan. I think he canimprove and I'm happy he will become one of the best players in the world.”
Milan's move for Balotelli came only a fortnight after ownerSilvio Berlusconi claimed that they would not sign the player because "if youput a bad apple in the changing room, it can affect everyone.”
Car crash
As Mancini noted, the media will also miss Balotelli for his headline-makingtalent.
He crashed his Audi R8 sports car days after his arrival, had tocall the emergency services after setting fire to his house by letting offfireworks in a bathroom and missed one quarter of City's games during his30-month stay through suspensions.
On the other hand he scored 30 goals in 80 appearances (49starts, 31 as a substitute) including 11 goals in 14 matches early last seasonand the assist from which Aguero scored City's match and title-winning goalagainst QPR last May. Most famously he also responded to scoring twice in City's 6-1derby demolition of United at Old Trafford by revealing a T-shirt bearing thewords: "Why Always Me?”
By Keir Radnedge