Balotelli would like to emulate Ibrahimovic - Mancini

goal.com

The 50-year-old remembers the Italian imitating the Paris Saint-Germain star when he was a youngster at San Siro

Roberto Mancini says Mario Balotelli would like to emulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic and hopes he one day becomes as good as the Paris Saint-Germain star.

The pair played alongside one another briefly during Mancini's first stint in charge of Inter, when Balotelli was a teenage prospect at San Siro, and Ibrahimovic the club's talisman.

Now in his second spell at the Nerazzurri helm, the 50-year-old believes the Sweden striker is a good role model for his former pupil to follow.

“Mario would like to emulate Ibrahimovic,” said Mancini at an event held at the Bocconi University in Milan.

“But Zlatan has a few more years and has accumulated a degree of experience, quality, class and strength that he [Balotelli] is yet to acquire, even though he's been playing for many years.

“Balotelli has that potential and no doubt they were extraordinary together back in the day.

“Mario was so young, now he dwells a bit too much on so many things. I hope and wish for him to become like Ibrahimovic.”

The 50-year-old also gave his thoughts on the current setup within the Italian Football Federation and feels a more youthful structure could be the way forward.

"I wish at the top of the federation there were young people. Young people can be wrong, but certainly they always do things in good faith and you always learn from mistakes.

"Young people are our future and I always want to help them to grow.