Mario Balotelli: 10 stories that sum up how crazy he really was | OneFootball

Mario Balotelli absolutely loved his role as football’s king of the bad boys.

The Italian maverick, who made a name for himself by coupling ridiculous talent with mad-hatted antics, holds a special place in the hearts of football fans around the globe.

On his day, Balotelli was absolutely unplayable thanks to his brand of swashbuckling bravado and unrelenting self-confidence.

Sadly, despite being one of the most talented players of his generation, Balotelli’s player career only ever simmered, never reaching the violent boil that many had expected.

That is largely, if not entirely, down to his ne’er-do-well attitude that blighted his career as he lurched from one controversy to the next.

Well, thanks to handy , we can highlight eleven of Balotelli’s most unhinged moments.

Peeing on teammates bags

Mario started with his nonsense as a young man at Lumezanne where he was known for urinating on people’s bags, clean clothes, and sometimes, even people.

Openly supporting AC Milan while playing for Inter

He enjoyed some success after signing for Inter Milan but his open and very unsubtle support of fierce rivals AC Milan riled fans right up the wrong way.

Wearing an AC Milan shirt during a TV interview was an ill-advised move and ultimately lead to his departure.

As Inter’s only fit striker during a crucial European tie, Jose Mourinho made a point of urging an already yellow carded Balotelli to keep his cool in the second half.

Balotelli was sent off in the 46th minute with Mourinho branding the striker ‘unmanageable’.

His crazy John Lewis shopping list

Having been sent out to get an ironing board for his new Manchester home, Balotelli returned from John Lewis with a quad-bike, trampoline and Scalextric set.

Manchester City probably should’ve know it was going to be a wild ride.

“Because I am rich”

Having crashed his dishy Audi R8 on the way to training, Balotelli was queried by suspicious police as to why he £5,000 in cash in his back pocket.

His response was typically Balotelli-esque: “Because I am rich.”

Bulls-eye?

Balotelli was later fined £100,000 for lobbing darts out of a first-story window at Manchester City‘s academy players.

His explanation was once again a simple one: “I was bored.”

That pre-season backheel

Clean through on goal, Balotelli attempted an outrageous back-heel to finish off the move.

He scuffed it, was unapologetic and immediately hooked from the field of play by a fuming Roberto Mancini.

Fireworks in bathroom

Balotelli caused thousand of pounds in damage when he set off a barrage of fireworks in the bathroom of his Manchester home.

The next day he infamously unveiled his ‘Why always me?’ t-shirt before, later that season, becoming the face of a firework safety campaign.

The famous Germany celebration

Having been quizzed on his muted celebrations at Euro 2012, Balotelli quipped:

“I’m only doing my job. When a postman delivers letters, does he celebrate?”

He then scored against Germany and gave us one of the most iconic celebrations of all time.

Punching his teammates

Having embarked on quite the adventure around Europe, Balotelli was spotted punching his Adama Demispor teammate in frustration at being subbed off.

It was quite the hit as well.