Juventus winger Simone Pepe is full of praise for Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.

Pepe is working with Balotelli this week in the Italy squad.

"I've already seen Balotelli play well on television, on the field he has confirmed my feeling. I was really impressed, I have seen live that he is an important player.

"You always see the crazy mess around him but beyond that I can assure you he is very nice and a great guy, funny. Besides, he is still young so you can forgive certain things."