Manchester City's new signing Mario Balotelli will have to wait to show off his talents after being ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury. The Italian striker picked up the knock during his goal-scoring debut against Timisoara in the Europa League. The 20-year-old aggravated the injury in training and has been forced to have surgery in a bid to clear up the problem.

After such a drawn out transfer saga, the Eastland's faithful would have been eager to see what all the fuss was about when he made his home debut. The powerful striker finally signed for City for around £22 million after prolonged negotiations and made an instant impact with his winning goal on his debut. He'll have to wait a while before testing himself against the Premier League's best, even though the Betfair Football predictions suggest he will do well.

It a somewhat surprising move, Balotelli came out in response to AC Milan's vice president Adriano Galliani who claimed the club want to sign the striker in the future. Balotelli, who is known to be a Milan fan, said: "I'm pleased for the words of Galliani. I like AC Milan, they are a strong team."

Not the best comment to make considering he has only been at his new club for a matter of weeks, but then again Balotelli has a history of saying things without engaging his brain.

Balotelli's absence from the Manchester City first team will mean Emmanuel Adebayor should be given a chance after starting the season on the bench. The Togo striker will face a battle this season to get past Balotelli in the line up. Manager Roberto Mancini gave Balotelli his chance at Inter and has gone on record to say how much of a fan he is of the young forward. It was Mancini's persistence that made the Balotelli deal go through.

Adebayor will be desperate to use this chance to prove his worth to Mancini. If he manages to find the back of the net on a regular basis then it would be hard for Balotelli to just walk into the first team. With Carlos Tevez currently captaining the team and scoring, it looks as though the battle will be who partners the Argentinean. With a squad bursting with talent, this competition for places will be happening for nearly all the positions in the team. That fierce competition for places will only benefit City in their quest for silverware this season.

Meanwhile, the Wigan betting suggests they could be slipping out of the Premier League this season.

They have struggled in their opening games and could be relegated.