A former Manchester City kitman has revealed hilarious tales from Mario Balotelli‘s stint at the club, including the backstory to the Italian’s infamous ‘Why Always Me?’ shirt.
Balotelli, who now plays for Swiss Super League club Sion, spent three years at City and became renowned for his conduct both on and off the pitch.
From setting off fireworks inside in his own house to a long list of unpaid parking fines, the Italian was about as unpredictable as they come.
And, on a recent podcast, even more details about the striker’s habits in Manchester have been revealed – including the story surrounding his celebration against Man United in their famous 6-1 win at Old Trafford.
Appearing on the Ninety Three Twenty Podcast, ex-City kitman Les Chapman said: ‘Every morning we used to go to this little area at the back of the dressing rooms. There was this little area with a few tables where you could have a tea or coffee.
‘He’d have one my fags – I used to smoke then – and he’d probably have two cigarettes, one after the other. Never brought his own. He must have had 80 packets and 70 lighters but never got me one cigarette.
‘This particular day Mario took me around and said “I want this printed on my shirt, what do you think?” I said yeah I’ll print it up, but [I told him] you can’t have anything that’s offensive to United fans or anybody really.
‘He came out with one or two things and I said “No, Mario” and then he said “what about why always me?” As soon as he said it I thought that’s just about perfect and then I got in trouble after the game.
‘They wouldn’t let me print anymore shirts after that game because instead of just lifting his shirt up to there, he lifted it over his head and got booked so David Platt said “message from Mancini, don’t print anymore shirts”.
‘After five minutes it had gone global so Mario said to me “Get onto Umbro, we want commission on this stuff being sold”. So I rang Umbro and requested and they said “we can’t do anything about it”.
‘He came out with it and it’s the most ideal thing he could have said.’
Balotelli brandished the shirt during Man City’s 6-1 win over rivals Man United in the 2011-12 campaign.
The Italian scored twice in the game, including the opening goal, and celebrated it by looking unimpressed and revealing the message on an undershirt.
It came as a reponse to recent media reports surrounding the forward. Just one day before that match, Balotelli had made headlines for setting fireworks off in his home.
A friend of the millionaire footballer set off dozens of fireworks from ‘multi-shot barrage cannons’ in his first floor bathroom a decade ago, starting a serious blaze.
Later that week, the Italian forward was unveiled as Greater Manchester’s ambassador for firework safety.
Credit dailymail.co.uk
