Atalanta GM Pierpaolo Marino has revealed they turned down the chance of signing Mario Balotelli as a teenager.
Marino admits they passed on the Liverpool striker over his behaviour during trials.
He told Gazzetta.it: "Balotelli trialled for Atalanta, but ruined everything with his wrong response to the referee.
"We just told him he's not the one who referees matches.
"Atalanta focus on the human character and for a young player this counts even more than the technical skills. When we put our kids out on loan, I always get phone calls of praise for their professionalism and their behavior.
"Some values are more important to become great, even in football."
