Palermo v City: Our Italian connections

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Manchester City F.C.

·27. Juli 2025

Palermo v City: Our Italian connections

City's pre-season kicks off with a game against Palermo on 9 August.

Subscribers to CITY+ will be able to watch the game live as Pep Guardiola's men fine tune ahead of our Premier League opener at Wolves the following weekend.

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Ahead of the game, here are some of our Italian connections over the years...

Roberto Mancini

A manager who will always be fondly remembered by City fans, Mancini arrived at the Club in December 2009 as a replacement for Mark Hughes.

The Italian boss was charged with ending the Blues' long wait for silverware - and he delievered in unforgettable fashion.

In his first full season (2010-11), Mancini guided City to a first trophy in 35 years as we beat Stoke City 1-0 in the FA Cup final.

A year later, Mancini oversaw City's incredible last-day Premier League title win as we recovered from 2-1 down to score twice against QPR in added time.

It meant the Blues became champions for the first time in 44 years and ensured our Italian manager 's name was written into Club folklore forever.

He would leave Manchester City in 2013, but is still fondly remembered by our fans for lighting the blue touch paper for an incredible era of success.

Bernardo Corradi

Bernardo Corradi joined City in July 2006 from Valencia for an undisclosed fee and penned a three-year deal.

The tall, powerfully built forward had already played for NINE clubs by the time he signed for the Blues, and he was never destined for a lengthy spell at the City of Manchester Stadium (as was).

In fact, his debut against Chelsea proved to be a portend for what was to come as he was dismissed after receiving two yellow cards.

It might be unlucky for some, but 13 proved a charm for Corradi who finally scored his first City goals in a victory over Fulham – two in fact – and the hope was he would finally find his feet in the Premier League.

However, he was sent off again in the Manchester derby in December, with his second booking awarded after a dive in the box that certainly didn’t go down well with boss Stuart Pearce.

Corradi scored his final goal in a February 2007 defeat to Portsmouth and by the end of his debut campaign, he’d scored just three times in 29 appearances.

Though he enjoyed a bright pre-season to the 2007/08 campaign under new boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, he couldn’t force his way into the Swede’s new-look attach and he was instead loaned out to Parma for the season.

City mutually agreed to cancel the final year of his contract and Corradi joined Reggina on a permanent deal in 2008.

Rolando Bianchi

With his long hair, headband and the No.10 jersey on his back, Rolando Bianchi breezed into Manchester City with all the sophistication of a star in the making.

After an excellent season with Reggina in Serie A, the 24-year-old joined City for a fee in the region of £9million and was one of seven summer signings by Sven-Goran Eriksson.

He would take just 18 minutes to announce his arrival in the Premier League, turning home Elano’s low cross to give city a 1-0 lead at West Ham United.

It couldn’t have gone much better for our new forward – and yet it wouldn’t get any better than his debut at Upton Park.

City went on to win the game 2-0 and, after three opening victories, topped the Premier League by the end of August.

But though he would score three more goals, Bianchi found life in England difficult.

In fact, he was dreadfully homesick and after criticising elements of English culture, Eriksson informed the Italian he could leave the club.

He joined Lazio on loan for the remainder of the campaign and then signed for Torino on a permanent deal, though he would never realise his dream of playing for the Italian senior team.

Mario Balotelli

One of the most colourful characters ever to play for City, Mario Balotelli joined City from Inter in 2010.

Aged only 20, Balotelli was seen as a precocious talent by Roberto Mancini who had nurtured the youngster during his time at the San Siro.

A knee injury prevented him making his debut until October 2010, but he proved an instant hit with City fans who loved his arrogance and attitude on the pitch.

He was awarded the Golden Boy prize in December of that year, and boldly claimed only one previous winner had been better than him – Lionel Messi!

That was Mario in a nutshell.

His first season would yield 10 goals from 28 appearances, but that didn’t quite tell the whole story of this explosive talent.

‘Super Mario’ would write his name into Manchester City folklore in the 2011/12 season, however.

After discovering setting off fireworks in his bathroom was perhaps not the wisest idea he’d had, Mario continued to court newspaper headlines on a weekly basis – and the fireworks incident came just days before the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

But Mario had his own answer to the negative headlines and, when he slid home a low shot in front of the Stretford End, he turned around, lifted his shirt and displayed the message ‘Why Always Me?’

It was an iconic moment in an iconic game, and he would score again in the Blues’ 6-1 humbling of the Reds that day.

He scored all kinds of goals – tap-ins, headers, shots from outside the box, wonderful penalties (he never missed) and even one off his shoulder!

But his penchant for bad decisions hindered his progress and when he was dismissed in a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the 2011/12 title run in, it seemed he had played his part in the Blues’ pursuit of leaders Manchester United being effectively over with six games remaining.

It also seemed like Mario’s time at City was over.

Mancini said after the game: “I've finished my words for him. I've finished. I love him as a guy, as a player. I know him. He's not a bad guy and [he] is a fantastic player. But, at this moment, I'm very sorry for him because he continues to lose his talent, his quality. I hope, for him, he can understand that he's in a bad way for his future. And he can change his behaviour in the future. But I'm finished.”

But Mario’s story was far from over.

On the final day of the 2011/12 season, who else but Mario Balotelli should come off the bench to play his part in a one-two with Sergio Aguero who scored the winning goal against QPR in added time?

It would be Mario’s one and only assist of the season and nobody could claim he wasn’t a man for the big occasion!

His relationship with Mancini was that of a father and son – petulant at times, frustrating and even on occasions filled with anger – his pirouette attempt at a finish in a friendly with LA Galaxy in 20i12 resulted in Mario’s immediate substitution.

But the pair were close, and Mancini cared for the unpredictable forward.

However, more disciplinary problems in 2012/13 led to City finally parting ways with the Italian.

He’d scored 30 goals in 80 games and left an adoring City fanbase behind as he joined AC Milan in January 2013.

Incredibly, Mario is only 34 and still playing in Serie A for Genoa as he approaches 500 career games.

And City fans still sing about him to this very day…

Luca Scapuzzi

The fourth and final Italian player to have joined City is Luca Scapuzzi.

Signed as a 20-year-old in 2011 by Roberto Mancini, the young forward was seen as ‘one for the future’ when he signed from a lower league Italian side.

But while he made several EDS appearances, he would never make the senior team and instead was loaned out several times – including spells at Oldham Athletic and Portsmouth – before leaving the club permanently in 2014.