James Milner likens ex-Man City ace Mario Balotelli to ‘11-year-old’ who would ‘smash something up’ if people made noise

PREMIER LEAGUE icon James Milner has likened former team-mate Mario Balotelli to an 11-year-old and says he would attempt “stupid” things in the dressing room to get attention. The 40-year-old played alongside Balotelli during his time at Manchester City and then at Liverpool. Prem icon James Milner has likened former team-mate Mario Balotelli to an 11-year-old Credit: Alamy They won the Premier League and the FA Cup together during their time at City – although Milner claims the Italian striker was not the easiest to work with. Speaking to Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, the Premier League all-time appearance maker said: “It was like having an 11, 12-year-old in there, really. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! “Say we were a group of lads in the dressing room just having a chat and he was in there and no attention was on him, he’d do something completely stupid just so people would look at him. “Make a noise, do something random, smash something up, just so he got attention.” He later added: “So much attention went on him and things like that. Distractions you didn’t need at times. “Critical times he’d come in in a camouflaged Bentley, which he actually backed into my car and I watched him do it and then he denied it in front of my face! “He was alright with me, if I ever gave it out to him or anything like that, he could see I was doing what I was asking him to do, so he didn’t really complain. “And, to be fair, I always got on with him ok.” Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS Milner also claimed that Balotelli did not reach his full potential in the Premier League – but suggested he is one of the greatest penalty takers in the history of English football. Asked by Scholes about the Italian’s potential, the midfielder explained: “No. He could finish. He was probably one of the best penalty takers I’ve seen to be fair. “I’ve never seen him miss one in training for years. He was one of the first who really watched the keeper. “If someone does that well, you can’t stop it, can you? He just walked and looked at the keeper, and if the keeper moved he put it in the other corner. If the keeper didn’t move, he had a hard enough side foot that the keeper was never getting it.” Balotelli currently plays for Al-Ittifaq in the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Milner retired from professional football at the end of last season. Milner claims that Balotelli wanted attention in the dressing room Credit: Getty – Contributor Milner and Balotelli were team-mates at Man City Credit: Getty Comment now