Despite initial suggestions by manager Roberto Mancini that the injury was not serious, the £22.5 million buy from Inter Milan has not played for Manchester City since suffering the injury at the end of his debut for the club against FC Timisoara last month, and tests have revealed that the 20 year-old requires an operation to repair damage to his lateral meniscus.
Balotelli has returned to Milan for the surgery, which has been prompted by the injury suffered in stoppage time of the 1-0 victory in Romania on Aug 19. Manchester City had hoped that a period of rest would alleviate the problem, but with Balotelli having played just 33 minutes for his new club, the decision was taken on Wednesday for the player to undergo surgery in order to accelerate his return to action. The once-capped Italy forward is expected to be sidelined until mid-October.
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