Balotelli pays price for strip club visit

Manchester City have fined Mario Balotelli one week’s wages for breaking a club curfew ahead of the 2-0 win against Bolton on Saturday.

The 21-year-old Italy international was pictured outside a strip club in Liverpool in the early hours of Friday morning, breaking a club-imposed curfew ahead of the game less than 48 hours later.

The striker played and scored against Owen Coyle’s men, but at the time manager Roberto Mancini did not know of the incident and claimed to investigate.

“I spoke with Mario and gave him a fine of week’s wages, for what he did,” Mancini told reporters.

“This is normal because every player should have good behaviour before the game.”

Mancini also confirmed that Balotelli had accepted the fine, rumoured to be worth 120,000 pounds.

It is the latest in a long list of misdemeanours for the controversial striker, who has already breached a club curfew once this season.