AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has once again courted controversy following remarks he made about Mario Balotelli.
The former Italian Prime Minister, whose tenure as the country's leader was littered with a number of high profile scandals, spoke at an event celebrating his 30th anniversary as owner of the club and committed the faux pas when being interviewed by Sky Sports Italia last night.
Here is the big red&black family united together to celebrate this milestone. We are proud of these 30 years! ðŸ†ðŸ”´âš«ï¸ pic.twitter.com/NnMOi4nRlx
— AC Milan (@acmilan) February 20, 2016
When asked about the current state of the Rossoneri squad, Berlusconi claimed it contained quality before making the insensitive remarks about the on-loan Liverpool striker.
"We have a rich bed of talent, such as (Jeremy) Menez and Mario Balotelli, who is Italian even if he has spent too long in the sun".
"Mario has exceptional athletic attributes. I see him in training almost breaking the net with his shots, he has brilliant ball control.
"On the field I see him out of position, and I say to him, 'Mario, do you want to win?' We need to score to win and to score you need to be in front of goal," Berlusconi added.
The Italian striker has failed to recapture the form that saw him win the Golden Boy Award in 2010 since his return to Italy, mustering only 10 appearances, only two of which have been starts, and scoring just one goal.
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