Roberto Mancini: Man City have rejected offers for Mario Balotelli

Mario Balotelli netted 13 goals for City last season Photo: Kelvin Gillmor

Roberto Mancini has revealed Manchester City have received a number of offers for Mario Balotelli this summer – but the manager insists the striker is not for sale.

The 47-year-old’s stance amounts to a remarkable turnaround after he declared Balotelli would never play for the Eastlands outfit again following his red card at Arsenal in April.

The former Internazionale striker was one of Italy’s stand-out performers at Euro 2012 and Mancini is keen to keep Balotelli at City.

“This summer, we had a lot of requests for him,” Mancini said. “Many important teams wanted him.

“No [he will not be sold], because he is young. We are sure he can improve.

“You can say Mario did a good season because he scored 15 or 17 goals, [and] he did the last pass for Sergio in the last game.”

City’s rivals have been busy in the current transfer window, with Chelsea snapping up Eden Hazard, Marko Marin and Oscar.

Manchester United have signed Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell, while Arsenal have completed deals for Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla.

And Mancini revealed his frustration at the Premier League champions’ failure to add to their squad over the summer.

“I am not happy but I won’t say anything at the moment,” he said. “For this you should talk to Brian Marwood.

“I don’t know what I should say in this situation because after three months [no one has been signed].

“I think we have a good team but it is impossible that after two years you did everything well. You need to continue to improve in every way.”