Italian ace also discusses first penalty miss of career.
AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli has revealed how “thankful” he is to Roberto Mancini after the pair worked together at both Inter Milan and Manchester City.
Sky Sport Italia have released new extracts from the 23-year-old’s recent interview, after he apologised for his sending off against Napoli last weekend.
The former Manchester City star received a red card after the full time whistle for using threatening behaviour towards the referee, and was handed a three-match suspension.
The Rossoneri in turn decided against appealing the ruling due to the nature of the suspension, with Balotelli apologising to the club, his team-mates and the referee this week.
While he discussed how he feels he has been unlucky in recent weeks, particularly considering he also missed the first penalty of his career, he has looked back on his past and admitted that Mancini was a great influence on him.
“Mancini was the most important Coach in my career. I respect him and am thankful for the opportunity he gave me at Inter. I wanted to play more at Manchester, but there were five strikers and it was difficult to play all the time,” he said as reported by Football Italia.
“I didn’t express myself to the full there, even if I put the effort in.”
Balotelli will be expected to return to action against Ajax on Wednesday night, but will miss Saturday’s clash with Sampdoria and then the meeting with rivals Juventus next weekend.
Nevertheless, having now apologised for his actions, coach Massimiliano Allegri has revealed that all parties concerned will now move on and he looks forward to having Balotelli at his disposal again.
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