Balotelli out for six weeks
Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli will be out of action for six weeks as he is due to have knee surgery.
Balotelli signed for Manchester City earlier in the summer in a big money move from Inter Milan. He is rated as one of the best young attacking forwards in the world and a great example of what City is trying to achieve. However, City fans will be forced to wait a little longer before the striker makes his Premier League debut.
A Manchester City statement said: "The Italian's injury is to the lateral meniscus, one of the two most crucial structures in the knee, and medical wisdom is to try and encourage the problem to heal without recourse to an operation.
"It was hoped that the symptoms would settle down but once Balotelli began to step up his recovery programme this week, it became clear that action would need to be taken."
The club can cope in Balotelli's absence but the striker has a huge amount of potential to become one of the most explosive players that the Premier League has ever seen.
Pressure
Balotelli will now be under extreme pressure when he plays his first Premier League game for City. This is because there is a great amount of expectation linked with him and the club will have already paid a lot of money out to him before he's even kicked a ball.
City is always under pressure to produce results. However, this news is a huge blow because the striker will miss big Premier League games with Chelsea and Arsenal. He will also miss a crucial European clash against Juventus.
Fortunately the club has many strikers that can lead the attack while Balotelli recovers. However, there is always pressure on fit players already at the club and any striker that under performs may be replace by the time Balotelli regains fitness.
The statement continued: "It was hoped that the symptoms would settle down but once Balotelli began to step up his recovery programme this week, it became clear that action would need to be taken."
Betting advice
Wave goodbye to any chance of Balotelli winning the Premier League's golden boot. The best bet is to back him in certain matches where he could net a few goals against a weaker team.
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