Italy boss Cesare Prandelli thinks his national side will benefit from Mario Balotelli’s transfer to Milan.
The Italian international joined the Diavolo last week after a deal was done with Manchester City.
Italy boss Cesare Prandelli thinks his national side will benefit from Mario Balotelli’s transfer to Milan.
The Italian international joined the Diavolo last week after a deal was done with Manchester City.
And the fact that Balotelli will now play in the same attack as Stephan El Shaarawy has excited the Azzurri CT.
“I’m happy that Balotelli is back,” the tactician noted. “He looked calm and motivated. Now that he’s in Milan, we’ll be able to keep a closer eye on him – in all senses.
“It’s an advantage for us that Balotelli can work alongside El Shaarawy on a daily basis. I thought in August that they could be a possible important pairing. They have enormous potential.
“If we win the World Cup in Brazil then I’ll get a Mohawk like theirs. Let’s just think about Holland on Wednesday for now though. We’ll have to see whether they start.”
Balotelli, who scored a brace in the 2-1 win over Udinese on Sunday, is an enigmatic figure who has had his problems on and off the pitch in recent years.
“He seems to have already changed his image,” Prandelli added. “He was smiling and laughing a lot when he arrived.
“He’s already found that serenity which he lost in England, where he didn’t play a lot and he was forced to deal with a lot of non-football issues.
“Now he’ll get more regular games and he’ll thus find form. It all depends on him. Mario can only get better as he has margins of improvements to make.
“I said that we were obliged to believe in him because players like him don’t pop up very often.”