Mad Mario faces Etihad exit but future bright for Arsene

Roberto Mancini admitted his patience with Mario Balotelli is wearing thin, raising doubts about the player’s future at Manchester City after the striker was sent off during the defeat at Arsenal that all but ended his side’s hopes in the Premier League title race.

Balotelli could also have been dismissed for a shocking 20th-minute lunge on Alex Song.

That incident went unseen by referee Martin Atkinson although the striker could face retrospective action by the FA which could lead to Balotelli being suspended for the final six games of the season when City will attempt to close the eight-point gap to leaders Manchester United.

“I’m finished my words [about Balotelli] today,” said the City manager. “I’ve finished today. But I love him like a guy, like a player. I know him. He’s not a bad guy. He’s a fantastic player. But at this moment I’m very sorry to him because he continues to lose his talent, his quality. I hope, for him, he can understand that he’s in a bad way for his future. And he can change his behaviour in the future. I’m finished with him. We have six games left and he will not play.

Asked if the player will be sold in the summer, Mancini added: “Probably. But I don’t know. It depends. Balotelli is a fantastic player, but I can continue to play with Mario on the pitch. But every time we’ll risk having one sent off. He could also score in the last minute.”

Mancini admitted he would have substituted Balotelli had he seen the challenge on Song and admitted the forward has proved a divisive figure among his team-mates.

“It’s clear he’s created big problems, but he’s scored important goals,” the manager said. “He’s made mistakes, he’s young, he doesn’t understand it here, but he scored two goals at United, and a last minute penalty against Tottenham. He needs to change his behaviour if he wants to improve his life. I’ve seen players finish in two or three years with huge talent. He needs to change.”

The City manager refused to concede the title but accepted the chances of catching United were all but gone. He insisted though, he is the right man to lead the club’s title challenge next season. “Sure. 100%,” he said. “When I arrived, City were seventh or eighth. After six months, we were fighting for the Champions League and lost to Tottenham one game from the end. Second year we were second and won the FA Cup. Today, we have 15 points more than last year.

“When you start a project it’s important you improve. You work hard. This is a difficult situation because we thought we could win the title. We were there for 28 games. But we need to improve. We need more experience and to change something. We’ve only worked here for two years.”

For Arsene Wenger, the victory offered more evidence of his side’s progress and confirmed his frustration at the mid-season slump that ended their hopes of a title challenge.

“I feel we have taken 24 points from 27 and the points we’ve got, many of them, have been deserved,” he said.

“We have improved as a team, 100% for sure. Unfortunately, we started from too deep. We had a blip in January that cost us severely.

“We are nine points from City today so, even starting where we started, if we’d not lost our games in January, we’d be there. I don’t think we can catch them now.”