Mario Balotelli has demanded a paternity test after former girlfriend and Italian showgirl Raffaella Fico said she was pregnant with his baby.
Fico told Chi Magazine, that she had informed Balotelli that she was four months pregnant on the eve of Italy's Euro 2012 semi-final match against Germany.
She said: "I called Mario at Italy's training camp the day before the semi-final against Germany.
"I asked him whether he remembered our conversation about the dream to become parents, and then told him that dream's about to come true as I'm pregnant with his child.
"He told me that it was the best news in the world. And the next day, he scored twice on the pitch.
"He never stopped loving me and we are rebuilding our relationship. He will be a great dad with a lot of affection."
However, Balotelli brought out a statement saying, while he has not intentions of shirking his responsibilities, he wanted a DNA test to prove the baby was indeed his.
"Although I would have preferred not to speak about my private life in public, I feel obliged to clarify, once and for all, my relationship with Raffaella Fico," the Manchester City striker said.
"Our relationship ended at the start of April and since then we have not met, nor heard from one another.
"I have not had anything to do with her life and Raffaella has not had anything to do with my life.
"Raffaella knows well that since we parted company with one another that I had, and have, no intention of returning to her.
"But because of what there was between us, I never wanted to talk about it, even when there were untrue things being said and written about us.
"A few days ago I came to learn from others that Raffaella was pregnant. For this reason, I decided to contact her and only after my question was it confirmed to me that it was true.
"I am very disappointed. I do not think it's normal not to know anything until the fourth month (of the pregnancy).
"I do not understand why she did not contact me immediately to tell me something of such importance.
"I'll assume all my responsibilities when I have the proof of my paternity."
Balotelli added he was unhappy with the publicity Fico was seeking.
"Also, it annoys me to see that she has already sought to make money from this story by selling photos and interviews.
"I think that Raffaella is already famous enough not to have to take advantage of this story for publicity purposes.
"This is the first and only time I will discuss this topic in public and so I have no intention of replying independently to what is said or written by Raffaella."
