Former Inter player Mario Balotelli has warned the Premier League to beware of another former Inter player: Marko Arnautovic. Super-Mario predicted Stoke’s new signing could eclipse his crazy stay in England. Balotelli’s short stay at Manchester City was dogged by controversies and excesses such as a bust-up with then manager Roberto Mancini, training ground spats with team-mates and setting his home blaze after shooting fireworks out of a bathroom window. There were also tales of throwing darts at a youth player, breaking into a women’s prison and going out to buy a hoover, mop and iron, only to return with a giant trampoline and two Vespa scooters. But the Italian striker says all that could be soon forgotten if new Stoke signing Arnautovic shows his wild side:
“The English press liked to talk about Mario – but I promise you Marko will make me looking like the most boring guy in the world. He is one of the funniest and craziest people I have ever met – there will never be a boring moment when he is around. In a few months the English journalists will be asking themselves Mario who?”
‘We do speak and are friends because we have to put up with similar things in the press. He told me, ‘Mario it is always so hard to get hold of you – why are you always changing your number.’ I just laughed and told him after playing in England for six months he will see why. It is important to remember he is a very good player though. He has real strength and toughness about him – he will adapt very well to the English game. José (Mourinho) acts like a grandpa and pretends we caused him a lot of trouble – but he has admitted to me that he had the most fun coaching players like us. He knew there was never going to be a boring moment for him.”
Arnautovic’s rap sheet is lengthy and even he admits: “I’m no angel. I did things without thinking.” His misdemeanours? The stuff of legend. For instance, José Mourinho claimed he had the ‘attitude of a child’ during a year together at Inter. Former England coach Steve McClaren insisted he was the craziest player he had ever managed while at FC Twente. But these verdicts only give a snapshot of the trail of devastation that follows the playmaker around. Arnautovic once borrowed a Bentley owned by Samuel Eto’o, only to have it stolen while eating in a restaurant. He tore a knee ligament while playing with a dog. He’s insulted policemen and been suspended from playing for Austria because of his behavior. He puts his problems with Mourinho in Milan down to the fact he was going out five nights every week.
Almost every manager he has ever played for accepts he can play. But it’s been left to Mark Hughes to nurture this precocious talent after the forward burnt his bridges in spectacular fashion at Werder Bremen. He upset the locals by labelling the port city ‘a dump.’ He was pulled over for speeding in the early hours on the day of a game and was involved in a training ground punch-up with team-mate Sokratis Papastathopoulos. He caused a public storm during an interview by claiming that his ideal woman was tattooed with silicone-inflated breasts.
Source: fcinternews.it & dailymail.co.uk