Topics: Ligue 1, Nice, Mario Balotelli, Roberto Mancini, Manchester City
Despite their complicated relationship, Mancini wants Balotelli to live up to his potential and return to the Azzurri side as soon as possible.

Former Manchester City and Inter manager Roberto Mancini has no problems whatsoever with Mario Balotelli, following their highly publicized incident years ago during a training session with the Sky Blues. In fact, the Italian manager hinted that Balotelli's skills could be useful for the Italian National Team if he can keep his act together.

In an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, Mancini stated that his compatriot could be unstoppable with the Italian side, but he needs to commit to the idea.

"It is incredible that he is not the starting centre-forward for his national side. He is the best Italian striker of the last few years. I hope Mario understands that he has to have a different attitude and think only about football. It is not that difficult," Mancini stated.

The Italian tactician also revealed he holds no hard feelings against the striker, and shared that he's happy for his recent good form with Nice.

"He's a good-hearted lad, very polite. He can get to your nerves at times, but it's impossible not to wish him well. I'm really glad that he's doing alright in France. I hope he gets at least 20 goals this season," Mancini added.

Later in the interview, Mancini revealed in detail what happened during that infamous training session, in which the couple seemed to be ready to exchange blows.

"I said to players not to make stupid tackles on Gael (Clichy) because he was just coming back from injury. And then, Mario made a strong tackle on him. I was furious. I grabbed by the collar wanting to push him but he is so strong physically I couldn't move him! You would think that we came to blows but nothing happened," the coach admitted.

Apparently, nothing would hurt Mancini more than watching Balotelli squandering all his talent. The coach even compared Balotelli to Brazilian striker Adriano, who ended his playing career due to his alcohol addiction.

"You can't allow someone to waste his God-given talent. He reminds me of Adriano, who I also coached at Inter. He could have been an awesome player, but he threw it away," Mancini concluded.