Roberto Mancini reveals all behind training ground bust-up with Mario Balotelli

Roberto Mancini has broken his silence on the reasons behind his infamous training ground bust up with Mario Balotelli at Manchester City in 2013. 

Mancini was caught on camera squaring up to the Italian forward and grabbing him by the collar. 

And now the former City boss has explained what got him so annoyed with Balotelli and why he eventually left the club that summer. 

Mancini said: 'In a training session, I said to players not to make stupid tackles on Gael Clichy because he was just coming back from injury. And then, Mario made a strong tackle on him. I was furious. 

'I grabbed him by the collar wanting to push him but he is so strong physically I couldn't move him. From seeing the pictures, you would think that we came to blows but nothing happened. 

'He came into conflict with some team-mates because of his behaviour, and he wanted to return to Italy. I was disappointed that he wanted to leave because he should have done so much more in an extraordinary championship.'