Paolo Di Canio says he would steer clear of Mario Balotelli if he was still in charge of a Premier League club and claims the striker is unlikely to ever realise his full potential.

Balotelli has courted controversy throughout his career and a host of managers – Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini among them – have tried and failed to bring out the best in him.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers looks to have become the latest to have lost trust in the Italian just a year after the Reds splashed out £16million to secure his signature.

According to Di Canio, the 24-year-old has all the tools to be a top player, but the Premier League legend believes his fellow countryman does not possess the necessary attitude or desire to make the most of his talent.

Asked if he would sign Balotelli if he was managing a top-flight club, the ex-Sunderland boss said: “No. I am talking as a manager and my view on football is you need to understand what it means to play with and for your teammates.

“You need to share empathy in good moments and bad moments. It doesn’t look like he is doing this.

“Many managers have tried to change him. Mancini was his father in football but even he now doesn’t want him back at Inter Milan.

“Mourinho understood at the beginning. He is a very good reader of players and he said that you can’t change this guy. Now he is nearly 25, he needs to change himself. He can’t rely on other people to help him.

“The demons are in his brain. He is still young, physically he is strong, he is an incredible natural athlete, but he has never used his big potential.

“Sometimes he thinks football is I can keep the ball, show off in some way, and then my teammates have to run for me. No. Football is sacrifice. Football is to bond with your teammates. Not off the field in a bar because you are generous. It is being generous on the pitch.

“He has big potential and I hope in my heart for him that he can turn it around, but I presume it will be very difficult because he spends too much time on social network and it seems he uses football to be a celebrity – not the opposite.”