• Serie A

Balotelli hints at Chelsea transfer

ESPN staff
January 26, 2014
Mario Balotelli played under Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan © PA Photos
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Mario Balotelli has revealed he would like to play under Jose Mourinho again, although the former Manchester City striker says he would not play for another Premier League team.

Balotelli played under Mourinho at Inter Milan, and the pair had a strained relationship at the San Siro. But now at AC Milan, Balotelli says there is no feud between himself and Mourinho, and the player who left City 12 months ago to join Milan has revealed he has a "mutual respect" with the Chelsea manager.

"Of course I would like to play under Jose again. In my first days at Inter we had some problems, but then it turned into a mutual respect, and now we have a real friendship" Balotelli is quoted as saying in The Mirror.

"It is never boring playing under Jose. When you are in Mourinho's team it is a family and he coaches on the principal that if all is well with the family it doesn't matter what is going on outside the team."

Although Balotelli said he would like to be managed by Mourinho again, a move to Chelsea is unlikely to happen given the promise he made when he departed City.

"I said when I left Manchester that the fans were so good to me that I couldn't see myself playing for another team in England," he said.

"I got great support from the Manchester City fans during my time there and I will always respect them."

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