Manchester City academy players urged not to copy Balotelli’s behaviour

Manchester City‘s football administrator Brian Marwood has urged the club’s academy players not to copy Mario Balotelli‘s behaviour.

The striker has previously been involved in bust-ups with manager Roberto Mancini, while recent reports have suggested the Premier League champions would be willing to offload the 22-year-old.

Marwood believes Balotelli should be following in the footsteps of some of Mancini’s senior players and has insinuated that the Italy international is not one of the club’s role models.

“I look at Pablo Zabaleta, Vincent Kompany, Joe Hart, Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott,” Marwood told reporters.

“We have a lot of players who think and behave in the right way. You have to make sure they’re the role models.

“I think, and we all know who you’re talking about, you’ll always get people within the system that will not show those values and behaviours, but in the main I think we have a fantastic group of players.”

Marwood also revealed that a former Manchester City player was sold following an episode of poor conduct at the club’s training ground.

“A player no longer at the club came out of the reception at our Carrington training ground, where we’d spent a lot of money, and spilled some rubbish on the pathway. He then walked across newly laid turf – which he shouldn’t really have walked across – and got into his car. He disrespected the environment he was in.

“Five minutes later, Gareth Barry came out, picked up the rubbish and put it in a bin. It said something about the values and behaviour we must deliver to young players.”