Off the ball : Balotelli sets new club record – for the highest bar bill ever seen!

Mario Balotelli racked up a venue’s biggest ever bar bill as he partied at an exclusive club in the party capital of the world.... Ibiza The enigmatic Manchester City and Italy striker shelled out a record-breaking amount of cash during a day and night session at the Ocean Beach Club.

 The new venue, which is owned by Gary Lineker’s brother Wayne, has hosted a string of big-spending soccer stars this summer including Joe Hart, Andy Carroll, Micheal Carrick and Danny Welbeck, but partyloving Mario outdid them all in the spending stakes which ran into thousands of pounds.

 Stunned Wayne, who owns a string of nightspots across Europe tweeted: “Wicked night last night in @LinekersIbiza with Mario Barotelli. His bill was the biggest anyone has ever had in 25 years in any Linekers.

 “Balotelli has just texted and said @LinekersIbiza was crazy place. Ha.” The 21-year-old hitman hired the most exclusive table at the swanky venue - which has a minimum spend of 5,000 Euros

 Balotelli booked the ‘Owner’s Bed’ which is described as the ultimate VIP experience and the most exclusive VIP bed in the venue which caters for up to 20 guests.

 Wayne added in a full-on Twitter spew: “Mario Balotelli has booked the owners bed today @oceanbeachibiza.he’s on route now.

 Let’s see if he can party!! “Just spoke to Mario Balotelli in @OceanBeachIbiza and OMG he has never heard of @GaryLineker WTF I said are you joking me !! £hesnotblonde “Me and Mario Balotelli at @OceanBeachIbiza today.

 All I will say is mmm. £interestingguy “Balotelli is only in @LinekersIbiza haha loves it!! “OMG Mario balotelli is on the back benches getting his groove on in @linekersibiza £awesome.

” Balotelli, 21, and former Eastenders actor Dean Gaffney, 34, hit it off a treat during a boozy night out on the party island of Ibiza.

 Sharing a £600 magnum of premium vodka, the odd couple chatted at length – both in slightly broken English – in the VIP area of Ocean Beach Club.

 Flirting with, and staring at, an array of beautiful women, they talked football before moving on to nearby Lineker’s bar.

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Mario Balotelli Demands Paternity Test

Balotelli has issued a press release in which he claims that he has no intention of shirking his responsibilities, but is seeking a DNA test to prove that he is indeed the father.

 “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 21-year-old explained.

 “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.”

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Christian Obodo's abductors demand 150,000 Euros

Nigeria midfielder Christian Obodo has been abducted by unknown gunmen in Warri, Delta State.

The footballer was taken on Saturday morning according to reports on SuperSport.com.

 Obodo, who played at Lecce in Italy during the just concluded season on loan from Udinese, was reported to have gone to a night club on Friday night in his car with registration number “Obodo 5” but was picked up on Saturday morning in front of a church in Effurun, a suburb of Warri.

 "Yes he has been kidnapped," an unnamed Delta State government official told SuperSport.com. "The details are still sketchy but I was told he was on his way to church this (Saturday) morning with his car that has registration number 'Obodo 5.

'" "Apparently his car's registration may have attracted his kidnappers because he went clubbing last (Friday) night in the same car.

" It is the first time a footballer is being kidnapped in Nigeria. However, footballers’ family members had been kidnapped in the past. "The kidnappers called this morning at the home of the mother of Christian asking a ransom of about 150, 000 euros," Obidike Okechukwu, husband of the sister of Christian Obodo, told ANSA. "Christian was going to church, he was alone, around four o'clock in the morning Italian time, when some people took it and carried away."

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'JT' code for ugly, Montpellier mohawk

Off the Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.

This week, Montpellier's 65-year-old owner acquires a bright orange mohawk after his club win Ligue 1, Arsenal's stars use 'John Terry' as code for an ugly girl and the England team are to be issued with official 'taeam pants' for Euro 2012.

Louis Nicollin with his orange mohawk

PA PhotosLouis Nicollin with his orange mohawk

Southern minnows Montpellier pipping big-spending Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 title shocked France almost as much as club owner Louis Nicollin styling his hair into a bright orange mohawk to honour a bet this week.

Back in April, with Montpellier hovering around top spot, the 65-year-old said he would dye his hair in the club colours of orange and blue if they managed to claim the championship ahead of PSG, who spent 50 times more than La Paillade's €2million on new signings this season.

But on Sunday, after a thrilling match at the Stade Abbe-Deschamps, Montpellier did just that with a 2-1 win away to Auxerre to beat nouveau-riche PSG into second-place by three points - despite the massive financial disparity between the two sides.

And rather than sheepishly shy away from his bold wager, outspoken owner Nicollin stayed true to his word and headed down to the coiffeur before joining the title parade.

'John Terry' Arsenal slang for an ugly girl

Following John Terry's shameless hogging of the limelight in Munich - which included changing into full Chelsea strip to hoist the Champions League trophy despite playing no part in the final and nearly costing his side a place in the showpiece event in the first place after getting sent off after just 37 minutes of the semi-final with Barcelona - his name has quickly become synonymous with taking the credit for somebody else's hard work.

But over at Arsenal, the Blues skipper's moniker has been regularly in use as a synonym for an ugly girl for quite some time, according to Gunners goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Szczesny, who is back in Poland preparing for Euro 2012, gave an interview to the Polish edition of Playboy recently, in which he revealed his team-mates refer to Terry whenever they want to escape from a woman's clutches.

"At Arsenal it [the name John Terry] is another word for an ugly girl," Szczesny is quoted by Polish tabloid Fakt. "If there's a girl around that we don't really like, we use it as a smokescreen, as in: 'Have you seen John Terry recently?' I recommend this, it really works."

England to wear official underpants for Euro 2012

The words 'England' and 'pants' have often been used in conjunction during the run up to major football tournaments and this summer's European Championship is no different.

Although this time the latter word isn't in reference to England's all too briefs challenge, rather to the fact that the squad has been told to leave their favourite undercrackers at home as they will be issued with regulation team underwear.

England rookie goalkeeper John Ruddy, who received his first call-up when he was named in Roy Hodgson's 23-man squad for the finals in Poland and Ukraine before later being ruled out with injury, let slip the bizarre lengths to which the England team are pampered earlier this week.

"I've been told to take boots, gloves, trainers, a few casual clothes and toiletries," the 25-year-old told The Sun. "We've got suits and they're providing underwear for us. It's surreal but that's what being in the England squad is all about."

Yep, being in the England squad is all about pants. Although, as M&S are kitting out the squad, let's at least hope it's not the usual stuff they are associated with.

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