Balotelli row with Mancini at Carrington training ground

Balotelli, who was fined one week's wages by Mancini earlier this month for visiting a Liverpool strip club 36 hours before the Premier League clash with Bolton, trained at Manchester City’s Carrington base on Wednesday after returning from a two-day break that saw him gatecrash an Inter Milan press conference. He had Mancini’s permission to fly to Milan and spared himself a reprimand for returning late by reporting for training in time for breakfast in the Carrington canteen. But Mancini’s exasperation with Balotelli’s efforts on the training pitch led to him subjecting the Italy striker to a fierce dressing down before coach Attilio Lombardo appeared to urge Balotelli to train elsewhere. City officials dismissed the spat as simply another example of Mancini’s demand for high standards. But following a number of poor performances for the first-team in recent weeks, Balotelli’s ability to generate negative headlines is beginning to overshadow his contribution on the pitch. Balotelli has twice been pictured scrapping with team-mates on the training ground since arriving from Inter Milan in Aug 2010, with Jerome Boateng and Micah Richards on the receiving end. Earlier this season, Balotelli was rescued from his burning house by fire fighters in the early hours of the morning prior to the 6-1 derby win at Manchester United — when he unveiled a "Why Always Me?" T-shirt after scoring the opening goal. He has also been rebuked by Mancini for smoking, including a cigarette break in the City dressing-room, while he angered the manager by breaking a pre-match curfew by having a late night curry at a Manchester restaurant prior to the defeat at Chelsea in December.