Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli will first adapt to life in English football then aim to become the best player on the planet. Balotelli was a marquee summer signing from Inter Milan in close season but was almost immediately sidelined by a knee injury and is only just back in the first-team picture.
The 20-year-old concedes the physical nature of English football is a change from his Serie A upbringing but is eager to get more experience of it.
"It was difficult for me on Saturday because it was my first full game after all the injuries," he said.
"Now I have to get as many matches under my belt as possible so I can understand the way the game is played here because it is very different from Italy.
"The tackles are harder and the referees don't seem to blow very often for fouls - in Italy, when someone makes contact with you, it's a foul, but that's not the case in England.
"It was my first game and it wasn't easy for me because I need to get to know my team-mates on the pitch and understand their movement and that comes with time."
"I want to be the best player in the world," he told mcfc.co.uk.
"It is good to have ambition. I've said in the past that I don't care what other people want or expect of me because I know what I want.
"I will always give everything because I want to become the best. That is my aim and I am determined to make it happen.
"I am here at City to play Champions League football, that's the competition I want to be in and that is what all the players here want to play in."
