In brief
During his turbulent and erratic tenure at Manchester City, Mario Balotelli was fined up to £100,000 for his actions.
When Balotelli raised his jersey to show the phrase during his “Why always me?” goal celebration, it was one of his most notorious moments. Balotelli hoisted his jersey too high, which led to the kitman who printed the shirt getting booked.
Les Chapman, a former Man City kitman, shared some amusing anecdotes about the mysterious striker.
hectic, exciting, and uncertain. Just a few adjectives that can be used to characterise Mario Balotelli’s time in Manchester are these ones. The former Manchester City striker was no stranger to an intriguing tale, and fortunately for the supporters, fresh details appear to surface sometimes.
The Italian mystery has attempted everything during his colourful football career, from setting off fireworks in his own home to getting into a brawl with a colleague on the training pitch. Premier League fines are a common feature of the current game; in recent years, sheets of shocking financial penalties have been leaked.
What Was Discovered in the Locker of the Former City Kitman Balotelli During a podcast appearance, Les Chapman disclosed everything.
Balotelli never had a dull day in his life. His great list, however, is a tale unto itself. And it’s incredible.
Les Chapman, a former City kitman, has lately explored the Italian’s off-field antics in further detail on the Ninety Three Twenty Podcast. “I used to give training ground visits. And after Mario went, I remember entering the dressing room with the first tour,” Chapman recalled.
“And I informed them that this was Mario’s locker. About thirty parking fines dropped out as I opened the door! as well as a pay stub. The club had fined him £100,000 that month.
A six-figure fine is usually unheard of, even though it would seem like pocket change to those fortunate enough to live the football lifestyle. This one came from the club, which we can presume Balotelli flagrantly disregarded, rather than a traffic warden, for which he was so well-known.
“I believe the club paid it up for him,” Chapman continued. “When he left, he owed Manchester City Council tens of thousands of pounds and had his car impounded 27 times.” Because of his provocative behaviour, Balotelli finds himself in a category that other managers would regrettably avoid.
The Sun (via the Daily Mail) claims that the former Italy international paid the English club over £300,000 in fines, and that club employees had to take his car back 27 times after it had been seized. This demonstrates that he was accustomed to running afoul of the law outside of sports as well as his own employers.
The Backstory of His Notoriety Celebration
In a 6-1 victory over Manchester United, Balotelli had his memorable moment.
However, the Golden Boy winner’s lack of discipline is not limited to fines; he also raised some eyebrows with a particular goal celebration. In the 2011–12 season, Balotelli lifted up his shirt, setting off one of the most famous celebrations in Premier League history.
Balotelli took the statement “celebrations are in order” very seriously and too soon, even though he had just scored the first goal of their eventual rout of their bitter rivals. Chapman relived the incident, saying that his shirt-printing responsibilities were taken away following the scandal. “Why always me?” was scribbled on a light blue shirt beneath his City number.
“On this specific day, Mario walked me around and said, ‘I want this printed on my shirt, what do you think?'” he added. Sure, I’ll print it up, but [I told him] you can’t include anything that will offend United supporters or anyone else.
When he revealed one or two things, I told him, “No, Mario,” and he said, “What about why it’s always me?” I felt that was just about perfect when he said it, but after the game, I got into trouble. David Platt remarked, “Message from Mancini, don’t print any more shirts,” after he was booked for pulling his shirt over his head rather than merely up to that spot. As a result, they wouldn’t let me produce any more shirts after that game.
In addition to getting himself into a lot of difficulty, he also got employees caught up in the mayhem. Mario, oh.
The Career of Balotelli at Man City
During his three-season tenure, he scored thirty goals.
Knowing Balotelli’s reputation at the time, Man City decided to buy him from Inter Milan after he had a falling out with famed manager José Mourinho while he was at the San Siro. However, there were great expectations in 2010 that the child’s exceptional natural aptitude would transcend the drawbacks of his dubious temperament. It didn’t help that Roberto Mancini, a fellow countryman, was his manager; the two allegedly even fought on the practice pitch.
There were flashes of genius on the pitch at different times. Balotelli scored 30 goals and dished out seven assists in just 80 games, thus he was not far from recording a goal contribution every two games. On the penultimate day of the 2011–12 season, he sent the ball off to Sergio Aguero, who scored a thrilling game-winning goal against QPR to win the Citizens’ first Premier League trophy. That was the most well-known of those assists.
This guarantees that he will be inscribed in the competition’s history books as a participant in the most spectacular event the division has ever witnessed. In the end, Balotelli failed to live up to the expectations that were placed on him as a youth, despite the brief moments of excellence. The former Inter great thought it was time to go back home when AC Milan approached him in 2013.
Man City Statistics by Mario Balotelli
Rivalry
Games
Objectives
Helps
The Premier League
54
20
3.
League of Champions
7.
3.
2.
The Europa League
8.
3.
0
Qualification for the Europa League
One
One
0
FA Cup
6.
One
2.
The EFL Cup
3.
2.
0
The Community Shield
One
0
0
The Career of Balotelli After Man City
His performance has fallen short of expectations.
You could hear Mancini exhale in satisfaction when Balotelli finally packed his bags and relocated to AC Milan. To the delight of some, his crazy journey at the Etihad came to an end, but his legacy in sky blue will endure forever.
Before Liverpool surprised the world by attempting to bring the wild Italian forward back to England in 2014, Premier League fans may have believed they had seen the last of him because few clubs were anticipated to take a chance on him. The striker was supposed to replace the captivating Luis Suárez, who left Anfield for Barcelona, but he didn’t demonstrate his abilities on Merseyside.
In his 28 competitive games, he only found the net four times, and his second stay in the English top flight was all but over when Jürgen Klopp joined the team in 2015.
Balotelli made an impression when playing for OGC Nice, scoring 43 goals in just over 70 games before being forced to move to France to pick up the pieces of a failing career. Out of all the clubs he has played for, this is the most goals he has ever scored.
Balotelli had a brief stint at Marseille before returning to Serie A after having trouble staying healthy and losing favour with Patrick Vieira at Nice. Since then, the former City forward has fluctuated between Brescia, Monza, FC Sion, Adana Demirspor, and Genoa, continuing to be a journeyman.
It’s easy to say that his career hasn’t lived up to the original buzz of a young player who was once nominated for the Ballon d’Or, as he spent the 2024–25 season at Genoa struggling for minutes.
Career Statistics for Mario Balotelli
Club
Games
Objectives
Helps
Milan Inter
86
28
18
City of Manchester
80
30
7.
Milan AC
77
33
9.
Nice OGC
76
43
3.
Demirspor Adana
51
26
8.
Italy
36
14
5.
Liverpool
28
4.
0
Brescia
19.
5.
0
Sion FC
19.
6.
0
Marseille
15.
8.
0
Monza AC
14
6.
One
Genoa
6.
0
0
Lumezzane
2.
0
0
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