Premiership / Dan Fitch / 10 November 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Dan 'The Betting Man' Fitch is looking forward to witnessing Mario Balotelli's career unfold at Manchester City. Have the money men bought the next Eric Cantona or another Faustino Asprilla?

I recently read an interview in which the actor Danny Dyer was moaning about being typecast in roles as gangsters and football hooligans. You'd be sympathetic towards him, apart from the fact that when he's not acting, Dyer constantly fronts documentaries in which he meets gangsters and football hooligans.

If you always play to type, then you can't expect people to think of you in any other way. Which is why Mario Balotelli can't complain when people label him as a nutter.

'Super Mario' is stereotyped as a bad boy footballer, with an explosive talent that is entirely in keeping with such a loose cannon. The Italian striker certainly lived up to his reputation by scoring two goals and getting sent off in Manchester City's win over West Brom.

City are appealing against the decision and the possibility of a three match ban, though Balotelli will miss the Manchester derby, having only just got his career at Eastlands started after injury. Roberto Mancini's side are the favourites at [2.72], with the draw at [3.35] and United at [2.96].

It's clear that Balotelli is an immensely skilful player, but Mancini can't claim that he didn't know what he'd taken on when he signed him. Mancini gave Balotelli his debut at Inter, before the forward essentially got himself kicked out by the European champions.

During his spell at Inter, Balotelli had a public spat with Jose Mourinho, threw his shirt at his own supporters who were booing his poor performance and worst of all, appeared on TV wearing a AC Milan shirt. Only Gareth Bale has heaped more pain upon the Inter faithful.

City's fans probably shouldn't be too surprised then if Balotelli one day pitches up on Granada news wearing a United shirt. Even though he's only been at the club a few months, he's been openly talking about a move to Milan or Napoli in the future.

Balotelli has already hit the headlines with his antics as a Manchester City player. He was lucky to walk away unscathed from a car crash, suffered a knee injury on his debut and was recently arrested by Italian police for tying to break into a woman's prison with his brother.

None of this has been particularly serious, but it hints at the fact that Balotelli is the sort of character who just can't stop himself from getting into trouble. It's a strange fact of life that immense talent is often combined with a volatile nature.

These are the players who you can't help but have a soft spot for, even when they're doing wrong. We've seen it all before with the likes of George Best, Diego Maradona and Paul Gascoigne. These stars tend to burn very brightly when still young, only to fade away due to their own poor decisions.

In the Premier League era, the player that Balotelli would want to emulate is Eric Cantona. Like Balotelli, Cantona came to England with a reputation as a troublemaker. Alex Ferguson was never able to completely able to curb that streak (as that mouthy Palace fan will testify), but he was able to harness that wonderful football talent.

A bleaker vision of the future though, is that Baolotelli's career in England could mirror that of the former Newcastle forward Faustino Asprilla, who only lasted a couple of years at St James Park, before Kenny Dalglish grew tired of his distracting baggage.

The jury is out as to whether Mancini will be able to control Balotelli's excesses and get him doing what he does best on the football field. What is certainly guaranteed though, is that the young striker will be one of the most compelling Premier League characters, for however long he remains at Manchester City.