25 April 2023 , 13:29
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Jose Mourinho once kicked Mario Balotelli off the team bus en route to an away trip after the pair clashed before their flight.
The Special One was in charge at Inter Milan for two years and saw a young Balotelli rise up into the youth ranks. The forward's talent was never in question, but it was his attitude and fiery temper that has undermined him throughout his career, as Mourinho found out.
Inter were heading to a game at Catania, which is over 1000km from Milan, when the pair came to blows on the way to the airport. Mourinho told Balotelli to get off and the player had to u-turn and find his way back home in a car.
The Italian, who has 36 caps for his country, told the podcast: “Mou is not an easy guy to deal with, much like me. One time before a trip to Catania, we had an argument on the bus taking us to the airport. He made me get off the bus and I had to return home with a car.”
Despite their disagreement Mourinho has previously spoken fondly of Balotelli, who has been a divisive character and one whom managers have struggled with. The Roma boss once said: "Mario was good fun. I could write a book of 200 pages of my two years in Inter with Mario. But the book would not be a drama, it would be a comedy."
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Balotelli has endured a nomadic career, failing to spend three seasons at one club before moving on - or being ushered out of the door. After his Inter stint he reunited with Roberto Mancini at Manchester City, where he claimed the Premier League title, and is best remembered for his 'Why Always Me' celebration in the Manchester derby.
The striker claims the Special One is an easy guy to get on withA return to Italy followed with AC Milan before Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers took a punt on the forward, which never worked out. Balotelli spent two-and-a-half years in France with Nice, where he hit the best goalscoring season of his career.
Since then he's played in Serie A and Serie B, the Turkish top flight and is now in Switzerland with Sion, who are fighting to avoid relegation. The 32-year-old has previously underlined his desire to win the Ballon d'Or and admits he's got things wrong throughout his career.
“I know that I made mistakes, but it is also true that the spotlight was always on me," he said. "Aside from my own character and the label of being a prodigy as a teenager, I think the status of being the first black player in the Italy squad also contributed to people always talking about what I did off the field. I saw colleagues do some things, if it had been me.”