Former Manchester City and Fiorentina defender and now pundit Micah Richards has recalled a hilarious anecdote involving Mario Balotelli at the time of the Englishman’s arrival in Florence in 2014.
Sharing the story on the Rest is Football podcast, co-hosted by fellow BBC pundits Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, Richards revealed that he had asked Balotelli for advice on the Italian language before completing a deadline-day loan to Fiorentina nigh on 10 years ago.
As someone who did not speak Italian before his move, the former England defender wanted to know the best way to introduce himself to his new coach and colleagues.
Unbeknownst to Richards, Balotelli had instead taught him a rather insulting phrase, which was then repeated almost immediately in front of the Fiorentina coach at the time, Vincenzo Montella.
“Like the absolute idiot that I am,” Richard said with his head in his hands, “I spoke to Balotelli to say ‘what should I say when I’m greeting someone?’
“He’s normally good,” Richards insisted, before revealing: “I go up to him [Montella], I shake his hand and say ‘testa di c***o’, which I think it means ‘you f*****g d***head’.” Unsurprisingly, the room erupted in absolute hysterics.