Phil Foden branded Mario Balotelli a ‘good player’ with a ‘bad attitude’ in an interview when he was just a child.
A video has emerged showing the Manchester City man being quizzed on their former striker when he was only 10 years old.
Foden was just 10 in the clip
10 year old @PhilFoden giving his thoughts on then Man City player Mario Balotelli
pic.twitter.com/U4DiczOK4J
— S Nerazzurro (@SaifNerazzurro) January 11, 2022
The context for the clip is unknown, but Foden joined the City academy at age nine in 2009.
He was seemingly on a trip with his young teammates the following year when the interview took place.
It appears as though the video was filmed for Italian TV.
The presenter quizzed the youngster about his thoughts on the club’s Italian striker.
Balotelli was a controversial figure during his time in ManchesterGetty
He simply asked: “What is your opinion about Mario Balotelli?”
Foden was blunt as he said in reply: “He’s a good player, but he’s got a bad attitude off the pitch.”
Balotelli’s off-field incidents while at City were well documented, with the talented striker often finding his way into trouble.
Foden now stars in the sky blue shirt Balotelli used to wearGETTY
Balotelli, who Jose Mourinho once described as ‘unmanageable’, was involved in a car crash within days of joining the club in 2010.
He threw a dart at a youth team player as a ‘prank’ and had a woeful disciplinary record on the pitch also.
The day before City’s historic 6-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2011, Balotelli and his friends set off fireworks inside his house, setting his bathroom on fire.
He famously celebrated a goal in the match the next day by lifting his shirt to reveal the message: ‘Why always me?’
Balotelli, now 31, left City in 2013 and has spent time at various clubs in Europe since and in the summer sighed for Turkish side Adana Demirspor.
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