David Silva says Mario Balotelli is a great teammate at Manchester City.

Given all his scrapes, on and off the field, some say the Italian striker is mad. But not Silva.

He insisted to The Sun: "Mario is a special player, someone who can break open any match. Yes, he's different. But he understands his football and has given us some lovely moments. Mad? No. Mario is different, unpredictable.

"Some days he arrives in a very serious mood and other times he is joking. But these types of player are needed in football.