Mario Balotelli is a striker who plays for English side Manchester City and Italy.
His parents were immigrants from Ghana but they gave him up for adoption at the age of three. His Italian surname is from his adopted family and he gained his Italian citizenship when he turned 18 years old. Througout his career in Italy he has been subjected to racial abuse from fans of other teams.
In Balotelli’s early years he came through a local team in Lombardy called Lumezzane. He made his senior debut for them aged 15 and then travelled to Barcelona on a trial. That was unsuccessful and he soon returned to northern Italy. Internazionale signed the motivated teenager on loan from Lumezzane, which Inter made permanent just before he turned 17. Later that year, in December 2007, Balotelli made his Serie A debut. He soon scored for Internazionale both in Coppa Italia and in Serie A and the season ended with them winning the Serie A title. Manager Roberto Mancini was still sacked because of their early departure from the Champions League that season. Mancini was replaced by Jose Mourinho. The following season also had the young Balotelli scoring in the Champions League and with Internazionale again winning the Serie A. Balotelli was hovever having a mounting amount of disciplinary problems. Mourinho accused him for not putting effor into his training and these problems continued into the next season. Several controversial incidents led to some fans and team mates also turning against Balotelli.

In August 2010 his former coach Roberto Mancini signed Balotelli to Manchester City for a fee of £24 million. His first season in England was troubled by an injury and some lack of control of his temperament. He received two red cards during the season but also scored some important goals. Manchester City finished the season by winning the FA Cup final and Balotelli was named man of the match. He has followed this up by starting the 2011/12 season in fine form, scoring and assisting several goals.

Carlos Tevez turned his back on Manchester United. He hates the city of Manchester and he has been one long saga of troubles at Manchester City. Nobody denies his top scoring talent but he has been a nightmare to handle for City manager Roberto Mancini. After Tevez refused to come on as a 2nd half substitute in yesterday’s 0-2 loss to Bayern München in the Champions League, Mancini has had enough.
A furious Mancini has declared Tevez to be finished at the club. He has called for an emergency meeting with Manchester City’s wealthy owners from the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Mancini says the situation is impossible. When he was asked why Tevez refused to take to the field, Mancini replied: “He just refused to go on. I don’t know why. I cannot be happy with this situation. Would something like this happen at Bayern Munich, AC Milan or Manchester United? I am the manager. I decide everything. Carlos didn’t play at the start of the season because he has not had a pre-season for three years. He was not ready to play. If it was another player maybe this could happen, but for a player to refuse to go on in an important game like this is not right.”

Straight after the match Tevez told journalists: “I didn’t feel like playing, so I didn’t..” Today he has retracted it all as a misunderstanding, that he didn’t refuse to play. That’s certainly not Mancini’s view of the events.

Roberto Mancini stripped the Argentinian of the captaincy at the start of the season. Since then he has also discovered that being a regular starter is something he has to earn as well. Yesterday’s events could be the final nail in the coffin for Tevez. The manager is clear: If we want to improve like a team, like a squad, Carlos cannot play with us. With me, no – it is finished.

“It may not be my decision but if I’m deciding then, yes, he goes. For me, if a player earns a lot of money playing for Manchester City in the Champions League and he behaves like this – he cannot play again. Never. He has wanted to leave for the last two years. For two years I have helped him, and now he has refused to play. Never again.”

Manchester City captain Carlos Tévez hails the Spain midfielder for making a big impact on his and the team’s game. In an interview with mcfc.co.uk Tévez said: “David Silva is the best signing we have made. He is the type of player who can win you the game. He can provide you with the sort of pass that puts you through one and one with the goalkeeper. He is one of the best players in the squad. He has freshened up the team and brought a new dimension to it.”

David Silva has played a huge part for Spain and Valencia in the past. Silva’s class has been there for all to see since he made his move to Manchester City ahead of this season. Tomorrow he is in the Spain squad to take on Colombia in the international friendly. On Saturday he’ll be playing against Manchester United in City’s visit to Old Trafford.

Several months of speculation was confirmed by Carlos Tévez when he handed in his permission to leave Manchester City in the January transfer window. For now it looks like manager Roberto Mancini will keep his captain, with the club insisiting they want him to stay and honour his contract until July 2014.

There had been rumours that he wanted to retire all together. There had been rumours that he wanted to go back to Argentina to finish his career with Boca Juniors. There had been talks about Chelsea, Italy and Spain. A troubled relationship with City manager Roberto Mancini was cited as one of the main reasons.
Tévez now confirmed that he wanted to leave already before this season commenced but was convinced to stay. Despite some public clashes with Mancini, Tévez says he is not to blame. However his relationship with certain executives and individuals at the club was “beyond repair”. Tévez at first described the club’s owner Sheik Mansour to be understanding of his problems, which would indicate that he wouldn’t stop the player from leaving. However the club have refused to sell him for now and after their “clear-the-air-talk” Tévez made another u-turn and agreed to stay on.

Tévez might not leave in January, however this chapter of his transfer sagas might not be at rest until 2014. Missing his family and daughters in Argentina could be a strong indicator for a return to Boca Juniors. Should he decide on staying in Europe, the strongest club candidate will be Real Madrid. In the meantime we’ll wait and see what happens at the end of the 2010/11 season.

UPDATE – APRIL 25th 2011:
The possibility of losing Tévez again seems imminent for Manchester City. Tévez, who at present is injured, might in fact already have played his last match for the club. The relationship between him and manager Roberto Mancini remains strained and the club board are gradually accepting that he will leave at the end of the season. Credible sources have revealed that a £40 million bid from Internazionale is expected.

David Silva is a winger who plays for English side Manchester City and the Spanish national team. Silva joined the youth ranks at Valencia as a 14 year old. After being out on loan to two different Segunda Division clubs he secured his place in Valencia team when he was 20. After four seasons in the first team he transferred to Manchester City in June 2010. Silva played at various youth levels for Spain and made his debut for the senior team in November 2006. He played his part for Spain’s winning team at the 2008 UEFA European Championship, scoring in the semifinal against Russia. Silva was in the squad winning the 2010 FIFA World Championship but with limited playing-time. He’s back in force again for Spain’s Euro 2012 campaign, scoring in their first two qualifying matches.