Italy coach Roberto Mancini ‘very sorry’ over Mario Balotelli failing to find a club during transfer window

Rome: Italy coach Roberto Mancini expressed his regret Thursday that striker Mario Balotelli hadn’t found himself a club during the transfer window, arguing the striker would have been “very useful” for the national team.

“I am very sorry to see him in these conditions. At 30, he would still be at full technical maturity and would have been very useful to the Italy team,” said Mancini, his former coach at Inter Milan and Manchester City.

“I wish him the best and I hope good things can still come his way,” the Italy coach said in an online interview with the le Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport newspapers.

Balotelli has scored 14 goals in his 36 international appearances, his last run-out for the Azzurri coming in September 2018.

After time spent with Nice and Marseille in the French Ligue 1, Balotelli pitched up last season at Brescia, but was unable to prevent the club being relegated to Serie B.

The relegation of his home town club activated a clause in his contract that made him a free agent.