Mario Balotelli has accepted he missed the chance to become a player on a par with the greats of the game, admitting his attitude at Manchester City held him back.
The enigmatic striker is back in the Italy squad after more than three years in the international wilderness, recalled to the Azzurri setup by former City boss Roberto Mancini.
Now with his seventh permanent club since leaving the Etihad in 2103, the 31-year-old has found a home with Turkish outfit Adana Demirspor.
In 20 Super Lig games this season, Balotelli has 10 goals and finally looks back to somewhere near the kind of form which made him one of the most watchable players in European football.
Have your say! What was Balotelli's best moment in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments
Never short of confidence, after winning his Golden Boy award in 2010, he infamously claimed that the only player “a little stronger” than him was Barcelona icon Lionel Messi.
He also predicted that the award given to him as the best European player under the age of 21 would translate to a Ballon d’Or in the future.
But for all of his flashes of quality, Balotelli failed to ever truly scale the heights he once set out for himself.
During an interview with his former City teammate Nedum Onuoha, a moment in which he compared himself to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was recalled.
Back in 2011, as a precocious youngster, Balotelli told stunned City colleagues that he was on a par with the world’s best pair - a level he now admits he fell short of reaching.
“I missed some chances to be at that level,” he told the Athletic. But I am 100 percent sure that my quality is the same level as these people, but I… I missed some chances, you know? It happens.
“And nowadays, I cannot say I’m as good as Ronaldo, because Ronaldo won how many golden balls (Ballons d’Or)? Five? You cannot compare yourself to Messi and Ronaldo, nobody can.
“But if we’re talking about only quality, football quality, I have nothing to be jealous of them, to be honest.”
A more settled and content Balotelli also suggested that his decision to leave City at the end of 2012/13 season was something which he still regretted, believing he could have gone on to become a club legend, had his approach to the game been a more mature one.
“I think that was my biggest mistake, to leave City,” he added. “Even in the year when I left, I played very well in Milan for a year and a half, but after that, I had some problems. And now that I’m older, I know that I shouldn’t have left City at that time.
“All these years seeing City improving, improving and improving. I could have been here like Sergio Aguero for a long time.
“If I had my mindset now when I was at City, probably one golden ball (Ballon d’Or) I could have won, I’m sure about this. But you know, when you grow up, you mature more.”
