Milan director on why Balotelli hasn’t fulfilled potential

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AC Milan director Umberto Gandini has stuck up for Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli but given his opinion on where he has gone wrong so far.

Italian international marksman Mario Balotelli is under pressure at Liverpool, but not everyone at AC Milan has unpleasant memories of him,

Milan president Silvio Berlusconi has stated his delight that Balotelli has gone and labelled him a ‘bad apple’ in a recent interview.

But Milan’s Umberto Gandini has defended Super Mario, who has failed to find his shooting boots at Anfield since his £16 million move in the summer.

“Mario probably hasn’t made the transition from being a fantastic athlete to being a great player,” he said in an interview on the website of respected journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.

“At Milan there were higher hopes from both the club and on his own part. He hasn’t managed to reach the point where he can lift the team and until he does that he won’t have fulfilled his potential.

“Was he a bad apple? No. At Milan he was much, much better than people have described in England. He is a fantastic lad, very humble and he has respected the values he was given on and off the field.

“Mario loves to fight against someone or something but sometimes when he’s provoked he can push too far. That’s something he has to learn to control.”