‘Madcap’ Balotelli told by Man City ‘he is not a role model they want’

London: Manchester City’s bad boy striker Mario Balotelli has been told by the Eastlands club that he is not the kind of role model they want at Etihad.

In a brutally honest assessment of the Italy international, City’s influential Football Administrator, Brian Marwood, admitted Balotelli has an image problem that is now causing concern within the club hierarchy. “I think that it’s important to make a good example. I look at [Pablo] Zabaleta, I look at [Vincent] Kompany, I look at Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott. In the main, we have a fantastic group of players here,” the Daily Mirror quoted Marwood, as saying. “I think – and we all know who we are talking about – that you will get people within the system who do not show the right values and the right behavior. You just have to make sure that they are the role models,” he added. Reports had surfaced earlier that claimed that City is ready to dump the 24 million pound striker after a catalogue of controversial incidents since his arrival from Inter Milan two years ago. And, with City about to begin work on a new 200 million pound training centre that will include a youth academy designed to produce stars of the future, Marwood has stressed how important it is for the club’s senior players to set the right example. “That’s the benchmark for this club now and the harsh reality is that it will happen through the development of local boys or bringing in players from abroad. We have players in our Elite Development Squad who come from England as well as Spain, Norway and France,” he added. ANI