Former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder Juan Veron has lifted the lid on the firecracker temper of Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini.

Veron and Mancini were team-mates at Serie A side Sampdoria in the 1990s when the two clashed.

He told The People: "Once, when I was playing at Sampdoria, I had a terrible argument with Roberto. He is not an easy person, you know. He has this complicated personality.

"Today, he is a friend of mine and he really helped me during my career. We played together at Sampdoria, Lazio and he was my coach at Inter.

"But let me tell you our beginning was hard. We were playing for Sampdoria and we were facing Piacenza. I hit a terrible corner kick and he asked me nicely: 'Next time, try to kick the ball higher'. I don't know why, but I got really furious and then I insulted him.

"So when I entered the dressing room, he was waiting for me. He wanted to punch me! In fact, he had taken his shirt off, and he was ready to fight me as if we were kick boxers!

"Fortunately, there were some team-mates who didn't let him punch me. I knew that I had showed a bad attitude towards him on the field. So, when he had calmed, I apologised to him."