Former Italy and Manchester City star Mario Balotelli has opened up about his eventful and tumultuous career.
Across his senior career, Balotelli has played for more than ten clubs, including AC Milan, Liverpool, Brescia, and Inter Milan, and, at the age of 36, is still playing now -- for Al Ittifaq in the United Arab Emirates.
Many of his spells at different clubs often lasted for little more than a year. In England, he is best remembered for his three years with Man City, in which he won the Premier League and the FA Cup under the guidance fellow Italian Roberto Mancini.
In an interview with the Guardian, Balotelli spoke about his time at City.
"It remains one of the best memories of my career," he said. "At that time, City wasn't as renowned as it is today. We joined the team that took the first steps for City to become what it is today.
"That gives you a special feeling. It means a lot more, actually."
Balotelli lamented the Italian national team's recent struggles, with the country having failed to qualify for the last three World Cups.
Italy have now reappointed Mancini as head coach in an attempt to stop the rot.
"The problems, in my opinion, are very simple," he said. "I prefer to give practical explanations rather than technical ones, based on everyday life and what I see in Italy.
"When we were little, we played hours and hours of football. I remember my mum getting mad at me because I'd stay out until it was too dark to see the ball. They'd threaten you that you couldn't go out to play the next day.
"Now, when I walk around cities like Brescia, though I see it in other Italian cities too, the parks are empty. There's no one around.
"[...] A seven‑year-old kid today might play football for two hours every three days. We had the same structured training sessions, plus three hours of playing at the park every day, which felt like fun but was actually extra training. I truly believe talents were born on the street and in the parks.
"You played a lot, learned a lot, and tested yourself against older kids. If you were good, they didn't let you play with kids your age; they made you play with the older ones. Those were tests that served me well in the long run. Playing with people older than me has always been one of the most important things in my career."
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Reflecting on the advice he would give his teenage self, with everything he knows now, Balotelli was cryptic.
"I'd tell him not to make certain choices. And to listen to certain people at specific times."
