Football agent Mino Raiola has claimed his client Mario Balotelli could have been a success at Manchester City had he not frequently been distracted by romance during his time with the club.
Balotelli was something of a disappointment to City fans, scoring 20 Premier League goals in 54 appearances, including 13 strikes during their 2011-12 title win,before moving to AC Milan in 2013.
He is currently reestablishing himself at Ligue 1 side Nice and has succeeded so far this season, scoring six league goals in six appearances following a disastrous spell at Liverpool.
Speaking to theFinancial Times, Raiola claimed Balotelli had decided not to prioritise football ahead of other commitments, hinting at his previous relationships withRaffaella Fico, with whom he has a child, andFanny Neguesha, whom he was engaged to before they split in 2014.
Balotelli has chosen, unconsciously or consciously, not to put football in the middle of his life. So there were always marginal phenomena that influenced his performance,� Raiola revealed.
Raiola, who also represents the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku, admitted he should have convinced the Italian to stay at City, and claimed he was convinced Balotelli would have proved a success in the Premier League had he elected to stay.
Yes. A big mistake made in his career was to let him go from Manchester City to Milan, against my advice,� he continued.
I should have said, ˜You succeed with City, that's it, period.' If I'd done that, hard, he would have.�
Balotelli signed for Liverpool in 2014 but could only manage one Premier League goal in 16 appearances, and left the Anfield club for Nice during the summer transfer window.