Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli's ex-roommate has lifted the lid on the antics of the wayward star.

Jose Coelho, who is now at Benfica, witnessed first hand just how crazy Balotelli can be when the pair shared digs as Inter Milan hopefuls, and the memory of getting home one night to find his room trashed and his bed missing will live with him forever!

Coelho told the People: "I'd been on a trip to Portugal and when I got back to Italy, I went to the room and found everything upside down. I couldn't even see my bed. The only thing missing from the scene was an elephant."

Then Balotelli even had the nerve to complain to an Inter director about Coelho staying up late using his computer.

Coelho added: "We argued. He wanted to sleep and I was on the internet, so he decided to complain to the director of the residence.

"The director said to him: 'You are the last person with a right to complain about someone'.

"Mario had a difficult life. If it hadn't been for the affection of his adoptive parents and Inter, he could have been lost - both in sport and in life.

"Basically, Mario is a rock star. He needs and seeks attention.

"People laugh about the episode with the bib (when Balotelli had problems putting one on during a City training session), for example, but he's more intelligent than they think.

"He has been using bibs every day for 13 years and suddenly that happens to him?

"He wasn't easy to get on with at times. He thought he was the best, but the truth is he was.

"When he scored he didn't celebrate. When we asked him why, he said: 'I'll celebrate when I score in Serie A'.

"He was 17 and had such confidence. He's never been in the news for drinking or going out at night. He doesn't do that.

"He does more innocent things but the truth is that people never stop talking about Balotelli. ''