Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has slammed Italian striker Mario Balotelli for smoking.
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has slammed Italian striker Mario Balotelli for smoking.
Mario Balotelli
Mancini, who brought Balotelli to England fromu00a0 Italian club Inter Milan, said the young striker puffs his way through five or six cigarettes a day. "Yeah, I know he smokes. For me it's not OK but I'm not his father or his mother," Mancini was quoted as saying by the Sun.
"If he was my son I would give him a kick on the a*** but he is not my son!
"I told him that 'it is better if you didn't smoke'. I am always against cigarettes and, for that reason, my son doesn't smoke. I don't think he smokes a lot, maybe five or six a day."
Meanwhile, City reach the midway stage of their Premier League campaign on Sunday when they face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
City are level on points with Man United but remain at the top of the table due to a superior goal difference.
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