Everywhere we went, people wanted to take pictures with him - Ex-Man City star opens up on Balotelli's status

Former Manchester City defender, Joleon Patrick Lescott has opined that former teammate, Mario Balotelli was the star man of the team as many people loved his personality.

Lescott holds that Balotelli at that young age had much to deal with, which perhaps contributed to his attitude.

Lescott believes that the negative perception of Balotelli stemmed from negativity and that people never considered the pressure that came with having such attention at a young age.

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s Vibe with Five podcast, Lescott said that despite the stardom status of Aguero and Yaya Toure, Balotelli was the point of attention for the team.

According to him, wherever the team went, people wanted to get photos with Balotelli and such attention and pressure sometimes added an extra layer of pressure.

“He was as disruptive as he was documented. People forget that he was 20 and that he was moving the club. Rightly or wrongly, he was the guy. We had Sergio, Yaya and the others but they didn’t command the attention he got.

“Wherever he went, people wanted to take pictures with him and stuff. That must be hard for him to focus on because there were people like that at the time. He played up to me”, he said.

Despite the widely-held public perception about him, Mario Balotelli has often received glowing tributes from his teammates.

Recently, English fullback Micah Richards told an incredible story about Balotelli and how much of an impact he had on him.

"All the stories I have about him, let’s just say they are not PG enough," said Richards. "It is hilarious because the story you guys all know is the story at his own house where basically he set off fireworks in his home and I am not exaggerating, there must have been £20,000 to £ 30,000 worth of damage. If you Google that now, you could probably see the amount of damage.

"But, what people don’t know is that he came to my house a couple of weeks later and tried to set off fireworks in my house! He’s chasing me around my kitchen with fireworks and I’m like, are you f****** okay in the head?

Micah Richard also spoke fondly of Balotelli and disclosed how much affection and admiration he has for his former teammate.

“I love him with all the madness. He’s just a great guy underneath and you cant do anything but love him.

Micah Richard and Mario Balotelli both played for Manchester City and multiple titles with the club.

EK