Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has told Mario Balotelli he needs to quit smoking.
Manchester City boss blasts Balotelli over smoking
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has told Mario Balotelli to quit smoking - but will not play the overbearing parent.
Balotelli has been pictured smoking cigarettes and Mancini has made it plain he does not approve although it would only be an issue if Balotelli was his son.
Mancini said of his fellow Italian: "I know he smokes. For me it is not okay - but I am not his father or his mother!
"If he was my son I would go to him and kick him on the a***. But he is not my son.
"I told him, for me it is better if you don't smoke. I am against cigarettes - for this reason my son does not smoke. But there are players in Italy and here that do smoke.
"I don't think he smokes a lot of cigarettes, five or six a day - but I told him."
Balotelli, who has scored 11 goals this season, was infamously forced to move out of his house in Cheshire in October after fireworks set off from inside his bathroom sparked a blaze.
Mancini said: "He lights up the fireworks with the cigarettes!"
Despite continuing to attract headlines the former Inter Milan forward has been a much-improved player this season.
Mancini has rotated him with Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero in an effort to keep all three forwards fresh and in top form and he hopes that policy will pay off during a tough January.
The Barclays Premier League title favourites begin the new year with a trip to Sunderland on Sunday and then host Liverpool two days later.
They then face Manchester United in the FA Cup and have two more clashes with Liverpool in the Carling Cup semi-finals as well as league games against Wigan and Tottenham before the month ends.
Mancini is perceived to be unhappy at the congestion but he feels he has the squad to cope.
Mancini said: "If we win against Sunderland we take three points, like if we win against Liverpool.
"But the problem is we play these two games in 48 hours.
"It is impossible to play the same players. In these two games I need to change six or seven players.
"But I think if we play well we can beat Sunderland or Liverpool, even if we change the players. We have good players. If we change three or four players I don't think that will change a lot."
