We're still not over Mario Balotelli getting subbed off for infamous Man City trick shot

Mario Balotelli is one of a kind.

While the enigmatic Italian striker might never have reached Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s level like he thought he would, he’s nevertheless provided plenty of entertainment throughout his career.

Besides, you only have to look at the fact that he went viral earlier this year for scoring a rabona on the back of about ten million step-overs in a game where he scored five goals to get a measure of the man.

And fans of the English game never saw Balotelli’s antics more regularly than during his spell at Manchester City, which was still around the time where he looked set to become a world-class striker.

Sadly, in the end, Balotelli’s time at the Etihad Stadium was best remembered for ‘Why always me?’ t-shirts and fireworks in his bathroom, but he did at least manage to endear himself to Premier League fans.

Whether or not he managed to endear himself so much to Roberto Mancini, however, is another question entirely with player and coach not always seeing eye to eye during their three-year collaboration.

After all, the infamous photo of Balotelli and Mancini scuffling in City training was clearly just the tip of the iceberg based on an incident from 2011 pre-season that continues to tickle us more than 10 years on.

With pre-season friendlies just a few weeks away, we couldn’t help reminiscing on one of Balotelli’s funniest ever moments when City warmed up for their title-winning campaign with a clash against LA Galaxy.

All pretty normal so far, but what if we were to tell you that Mancini hooked off Balotelli during the game because he attempted to score a one-on-one with a skill move… ringing any bells?

Yes, that’s right, the friendly match at the Dignity Health Sports Park was