Zlatan Ibrahimovic: There’s No Room for Mario Balotelli at AC Milan

AC Milan talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a message for Mario Balotelli, and it’s not good news for the Manchester City man.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport the former FC Barcelona striker said,”There is no space at the moment. No one has four strong attackers like Milan. [We have Alexandre] Pato, [Antonio] Cassano, Robinho and me.”

He continued: “With Mario there would be five and three would have to sit on the bench. We need a striker while we wait on Cassano, but that cannot be Balotelli.”

Despite playing for Intern Milan, Balotelli is a lifelong fan of the Rossoneri. This really shouldn’t surprise anyone, after all Balotelli is quite the character.

In response to Balotelli claiming that he is a better striker than Ibrahimovic, the Swede responded rather cheekily.

“I thought he was joking when he said he was better than me. If he were to play every game, maybe he could be one of the best strikers in the world,” he said.

When asked whether he could play on the same team as Balotelli again, Ibrahimovic pointed out that the two strikers have a few things in common.

“On a human level, yes, sure. He could have grown up with me in the ghetto of Malmo. I also like fireworks, but I let them off in gardens and kebab stands, I didn’t burn the house down,” joked Ibrahimovic.

Well, Ibrahimovic made one thing perfectly clear, he knows how to talk to the press. Perhaps he wasn’t given enough credit for that in the past, but he’s earned my attention.

That being said, the likelihood of Balotelli leaving Manchester City seems quite low at the moment, especially when you consider that the club will surely sell the out of favour Carlos Tevez in January.

However, I would cite Balotelli’s recent form as the main reason. It’s as simple as this…he’s been absolutely brilliant. There is simply no other way to put it.

Although it seems like Balotelli has been around forever, he is still just 21-years-old.

With Mancini putting him on the same pedestal with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the Italian boss has put a great deal of pressure on his young striker.

Balotelli has responded with absolute conviction and more importantly, with goals.

At the moment, the Italian is making no mistakes, not even with the press.

“Ronaldo, like Messi is the strongest in the world, but if people have said this then I just need to work hard,” said Balotelli.

“The Italy national team represents my country and this is the greatest thing,” added the Italian international.

“But I need to wake up and score some goals. The coach is expecting plenty from me, and so with Antonio Cassano and Giuseppe Rossi out, the responsibility falls on me.”

There may not be room for Balotelli at AC Milan, but there’s surely room for the former Inter Milan striker at Manchester City and the Italian national team.