After getting over his initial shock, Mario Balotelli took Giorgio Chiellini's public attack on his character and professionalism in good spirits.
When the pair were connected via a video chat on the Italian TV show 'Le Iene' last week, Balotelli quipped: "It's the first time in my life that it's you that messed up and not me!"
Quick as a flash, his former Italy team-mate countered: "I envied you – because in life you have to make mistakes to improve."
If that were completely true, though, the maddeningly error-prone Balotelli would be one of the best players in the world by now.
Instead, he has never been among the "top 10 or 20" strikers in the world, as Chiellini quite correctly pointed out in his recently released autobiography, 'I, Giorgio'.
Of course, whether Chiellini should have gone public with his problems with Balotelli's behaviour at the 2013 Confederations Cup is open for debate – and the Juventus captain felt compelled to apologise for going too far with his criticism.
After all, while Balotelli may be an incredibly frustrating footballer, he is by no means a bad guy. He never has been.
As his old colleague from Manchester City Micah Richards told Goal, "Mario, as a person, is one of the nicest people I've ever met. It's just he does crazy things. But I'm still in contact with him and he will always be one of my favourites.
"I just wish he could have shown more on the pitch because he's genuinely one of the best players I've played with in terms of ability, shooting, technique – he's absolutely incredible."
Getty compositeWhich is why so many of Balotelli's former coaches and team-mates have always been left so frustrated with 'Super Mario'.
Indeed, nobody would dispute the idea that Balotelli has failed to make the most of his considerable talent. Not even his own brother, Enock Barwuah, who recently told calciomercato.com that "Mario only plays at 30 per cent", arguing that "if he played at 100%, he’d be unstoppable".
Balotelli, though, has not performed at anything like his best since around 2013, and the worrying thing is that he will turn 30 in August, meaning it is now unlikely we will ever again see Balotelli looking like the world-beater that stunned Germany in such scintillating fashion at Euro 2012.
The hope was that a return to Brescia, where he was raised, would lead to a fairy tale finish to a career that promised so much but delivered so little. There have always been more gaffes than goals. Brescia has been no different, sadly.
The dream return has turned into a nightmare.
Of course, Balotelli being subjected to racist abuse was as predictable as it was upsetting. The only shocking thing about the most recent episode was that he did not even have the full support of his own club's fans in the face of shameful provocation.
If the striker had had the backing of Brescia's ultras for the entire season, maybe he would have found it easier to focus on his football. The campaign has, instead, been a constant struggle for Balotelli, who was hit hard by the abuse he endured in Verona in November, and even harder by the coronavirus-enforced suspension of play in March.
When Balotelli returned to Italy last summer, there was giddy talk of him getting back into the Azzurri squad for Euro 2020 given that the national team is now coached by Roberto Mancini, who has long been something of a father figure for the forward.
Balotelli, though, has managed just five goals in 19 Serie A performances this term. "Not enough", as Mancini told Sky Sport. "In terms of the qualities he has, Mario is one of the best around. But he has to give more. At Brescia, he hasn’t done a lot and he knows it."
Getty ImagesOf course, Serie A is set to return next month, but Balotelli is unlikely to feature.
Lockdown has affected him more deeply than many footballers. He was isolated from his loved ones, as his daughter lives in Naples, his son in Zurich, his elderly mother was in self-isolation, and his brothers were looking after their own families.
So, it came as no surprise when he admitted last week that he was not in good shape, mentally or physically.
“If you pass me the ball now, I am not able to get it under control with a first touch,” Balotelli told former team-mate Alessandro Matri on an Instagram live last week. "I haven't kicked a ball in two months.
"And I have been going crazy the last couple of weeks because I was totally alone."
That was a particularly worrying revelation as Balotelli's frame of mind has always been the determining factor in the quality of his displays and the toll racist abuse and problems in his personal life have taken on his mental health have always been terribly under-estimated.
This is a young man that once broke down in tears while sitting on a bench at the San Paolo. As his brother Enock said, "He’s very sensitive, so if the slightest thing goes wrong, he lets his head drop and doesn’t perform. It’s not easy to play with that much pressure on your shoulders."
Now, it seems, he may not even play for Brescia again, after it emerged that he failed to show up for training on Tuesday, which only validated recent reports that his relationship with the club has completely broken down.
Enoch was quick to dismiss talk of his brother's contract being terminated, but a parting of the ways now seems inevitable, with Brescia president Massimo Cellino admitting on Thursday that "Mario's head is no longer here".
Balotelli has always retained the ability to surprise people, so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he might enjoy a successful swansong somewhere far from the spotlight of playing in his native Italy.
However, his hopes of belatedly realising his enormous potential appear to be over.
At the end of Balotelli's televised reconciliation with Cheillini, the latter said he hoped that the pair would end up on the same Italy side at next year's Euros. Sadly, though, it only looks like one of them will feature.
That it is the 35-year-old who has just recovered from a serious knee injury tells you everything you need to know about where Balotelli's career is at right now.