It's not quite The Sun's infamous "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" splash, but "Mario Balotelli Ate My Pasta" still raises a chuckle with the back pages currently so serious.

We are indebted to the Maidenhead Advertiser for the revelation that City's unpredictable Italian striker turned up out of the Blue for a bite at Salvatore Palmieri's place.

Not just pasta either, apparently. The Advertiser's actual headline on what we assume to be an exclusive is "Mario Balotelli ate pasta and meatballs in Maidenhead cafe". Crikey.

Here's their tale, ungarnished in all its glory: "A cafe owner has spoken about Mario Balotelli's visit to Maidenhead yesterday.

"Salvatore Palmieri, of Palmieri's in Furze Platt Road, told the Advertiser the Manchester City striker and his brother spent about an hour in the cafe during the afternoon.

"He said the Italian footballer, who tucked into pasta and meatballs, was 'easy going' and 'a good laugh'.

"The father-of-two from Gloucester Road runs the cafe, which serves homemade Italian food, with his brother Roberto and wife Teresa.

"He said they had just closed the kitchen for the afternoon but reopened it for their visitor.

"They let Balotelli eat his food quietly before they chatted to him and afterwards the 21-year-old signed a football for them.

Mr Palmieri said he thought stories of Balotelli's behaviour off the field might be slightly over-exaggerated

Not had enough yet? Intriguingly, the web version adds: "See Thursday's Advertiser for a full report." We reckon he had pudding and they're keeping it under their chicken hat. So to speak.

Eat like a player indeed. In other news, Roberto Mancini is looking at defenders again with the summer window in mind, according to talksport.co.uk.

They report that City "are poised to make a move for Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol at the end of the season.

The Spanish international defender is keen to get his career back on track after making just five league appearances for Real Madrid."

Yes, yes, but what does he have for his lunch?