The Italy international flew into Manchester this morning for a medical and to tie up the loose ends on a £22million move from Inter Milan that has reunited Mancini with a player he handed a debut to as a raw 17-year-old in 2007.

And, although his fifth new purchase of the summer will have to wait until the home encounter with Liverpool on August 23 to make his debut, Mancini is set to unleash Balotelli on the English public secure in the knowledge that the Premier League will be a fitting environment for the striker to exhibit his talents.

"In one or two years he could become one of the best players in the world," said Mancini.

"He is one of the best players of his age in Europe, and I am very happy to be working with him again.

"I know Mario very well. I put him in the first team at Inter when he was 17.

"He can play right wing, main striker or second striker. He is a fantastic player and he can improve purely because he has changed countries.

"His style of play will suit the Premier League, and because he is still so young there is a big chance for him to improve. He is a strong and exciting player, and he will be a big hit with the City fans."

However, for someone of such tender years, there have been worrying claims about Balotelli's temperament.

His relationship with former boss Jose Mourinho was shaky to say the least and he was twice left out of the team for extended periods for a perceived poor attitude.

Balotelli even went on TV wearing a Milan shirt at one point last season, although the situation was calmed quickly enough for the player to be named on the bench for last season's Champions League final triumph over Bayern Munich, even if he did not actually play any part.

Still, Mancini does not view Balotelli's indiscretions as any more than the folly of youth.

"Balotelli is a young guy and he is a good guy," said the City chief.

"Like all young men, sometimes his behaviour is not good. But it is wrong to say he is not a good man. I don't believe he will have a big problem."

The signing has taken Mancini's summer spending shooting over £100million, just as it was this time last year after Mark Hughes had reshaped his own squad.

With such a massive injection of cash comes high expectation.

Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed the top four is a minimum requirement for the club and Mancini does not disagree, believing his squad to be capable of far more.

"Top four is the minimum," he said.

"I have worked with the team for five months. I have built the team.

"I hope by the end of the season we won't just have achieved the top four, but we have done better than that and won something.

"That is the time when we can change things."

In the short term, Mancini is playing down expectations.

A season-opening trip to Tottenham, whose victory at Eastlands in May allowed them to claim a Champions League place at City's expense, represents a pretty stiff start and Liverpool head across from Merseyside next week in another meeting with a top-four contender.

With so many new players to blend in and others who are short of match sharpness after late returns from the World Cup, getting the cohesion Mancini requires might not be easy.

"Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal have built their teams over a long time," said Mancini. "For them it is easy to play. For us it is more difficult."

Jerome Boateng is City's major doubt after picking up a knee injury on international duty with Germany in midweek.

Knowing Hughes was sacked for marginally failing to keep pace with a 70-point target set before the start of the season, Mancini is keen to stress he has not been made a similar hostage to results.

Instead the focus will be on what lies immediately ahead, the time for totting up not coming until the campaign reaches its conclusion.

"I have not been set a target," he said. "Our target will be victories, not a certain number of points.

"We must have a good mentality for every game. We must try to win all the matches in all the competitions.

"We can't think we must get to 72 points or whatever it is. We must think we can get the maximum. Then, at the end of the season, we will see."