Balotelli claims he wasn't at home during Manchester fireworks incident in 2011

Mario Balotelli has claimed he wasn't even at home on the night fireworks caused a blaze at his house on the eve of the Manchester derby in 2011.

Opening up on his bad boy past, the former Manchester City striker has described some of the stories about his misdemeanours as 'fantasy, prejudice, fairytale.'

Police and fire crews were dispatched to Balotelli's £3million-valued Cheshire home in the early hours of October 23, 2011 after fireworks were set off in the bathroom.

They caused extensive damage to that room, a bedroom and the hallway and it took 10 firefighters with specialist breathing equipment to put out the 'substantial' blaze, which left the Italian player with a £400,000 repair bill.

The incident came the night before City's famous 6-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, in which Balotelli celebrated scoring by revealing a t-shirt reading 'Why Always Me?'

Now, Balotelli has claimed he wasn't even there when the incident happened.

He told Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport: 'When the Manchester apartment caught fire I was not even at home. The accidents... a couple because of me, three at most.

'All the rest is fantasy, prejudice, fairytale.'

Balotelli, who now plays for Brescia in Serie A, then goes on to list a catalogue of other incidents, such as being involved in a car crash at 6am on New Year's Day last year and a late night out in Padua more recently.

He said: 'They wrote about my accident last year and I wasn't even there. I wasn't in that car.

'The other day there was an article about me spending the evening in Padua until the early hours.

'Yes, I was in Padua. I went do dinner, then to drink with my friends until 2am.

'Training wasn't scheduled the next morning but I went to the field to work anyway.

'Do you want to know what is right? Then ask me. Get informed. Don't create a scandal where there is no scandal.'

He was unveiled as Greater Manchester's ambassador for firework safety a week after the incident in his home in 2011.

Balotelli has also been involved in numerous other controversial moments during his career, including throwing darts at a youth team player during a training ground prank at City.

While playing for Nice in 2017, Balotelli was caught by police racing his Ferrari against a friend's Lamborghini and speeds of 125mph on the A4 highway near Vicenza in northern Italy.

That came after he picked up 18 fines for traffic offences - mostly speeding - in the space of two years in Italy in 2012 and 2013.