Mancini on Ballotelli - "Balotelli could be one of the world's best"
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes striker Mario Balotelli could become one of the best players in the world if he worked harder in training.
Balotelli faces a late fitness test to ahead of Wednesday's must-win Champions League game against Real Madrid.
"He has everything to be one of the best players in the world," Mancini said of his 22-year-old fellow Italian.
"He could be like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi if he understands that to be like this you should work hard."
In March of this year, Mancini admitted that he did not trust his unpredictable striker, saying: "he can score two goals next week but he can also take a red card".
And eight months on, he revealed that it is still tough.
"It is not easy to work with him every day because if you are a manager, you should manage 22 players," continued Mancini.
"Mario outside the pitch is a fantastic guy. Sometimes he doesn't understand how his job is important for his life but I hope he can understand this quickly.
"He is 22 but life can go quickly. [He needs to] understand that to be like [Ronaldo and Messi] he should work hard, his mind should be always on your job, not on the other things that are not important. I am very sorry for him."
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Balotelli faces a late fitness test to ahead of Wednesday's must-win Champions League game against Real Madrid.
"He has everything to be one of the best players in the world," Mancini said of his 22-year-old fellow Italian.
"He could be like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi if he understands that to be like this you should work hard."
In March of this year, Mancini admitted that he did not trust his unpredictable striker, saying: "he can score two goals next week but he can also take a red card".
And eight months on, he revealed that it is still tough.
"It is not easy to work with him every day because if you are a manager, you should manage 22 players," continued Mancini.
"Mario outside the pitch is a fantastic guy. Sometimes he doesn't understand how his job is important for his life but I hope he can understand this quickly.
"He is 22 but life can go quickly. [He needs to] understand that to be like [Ronaldo and Messi] he should work hard, his mind should be always on your job, not on the other things that are not important. I am very sorry for him."
/Football on Youtube brings you goals, highlights, player & manager interviews & more from the greatest soccer leagues in the world.
Visit /football for official highlights from the Argentinian, Belgian, Dutch, Russian, Ukrainian football leagues and yet more soon.
Subscribe to /football so we can let you know the minute a video goes live:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=football
Like us on facebook for all the latest football highlights and goals from around the world:
http://www.facebook.com/slashfootballuk
Follow us on Twitter for up to the second football updates:
https://twitter.com/slashfootballUK
Please see below for viewing restrictions.
Argentina Primera Division - Not viewable in the Americas
Belgian Pro League - Not
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