29 December,2010 08:45 AM IST | | PA Sport
Roberto Mancini has admitted hat-trick hero Mario Balotelli might be suffering from homesickness but he remains confident the Italy striker still has a big future at Manchester City.
It has been claimed that the 20-year-old wants to return home, less than six months after leaving Inter Milan to join the Blues revolution.
Certainly Balotelli has not always looked the happiest figure and even after his two penalties and first-half tap-in that steered City towards an impressive 4-0 win over Aston Villa at Eastlands, he was not as ecstatic as most of his team-mates.
But Mancini feels that public non-expression of joy is just an act, and that the pangs of unhappiness are merely the normal reaction of a young man separated from his family.
"It could be that he is homesick," said Mancini.
"But I don't think it is a long-term problem.
"He is 20. It is the first time he has left his family. It is normal for him to miss them." As for the reluctance to celebrate, something Mancini chided Balotelli about less than a week ago, the City boss reflected: "Every player has his behaviour."
