THE mum of £120,000-a-week footballer Mario Balotelli has a new job to make ends meet … as a £6-an-hour cleaner at an office block.
Rose Barwuah lives on a run-down council estate and travels to her evening job on the number 11 bus.
Before heading into work, she often pops into Aldi on her way to Lex Autolease on the outskirts of Cheadle, Greater Manchester.
Meanwhile, her Premier League winner son lives in a £3million mansion eight miles away and drives to training at Manchester City in his £120,000 Bentley Continental.
Rose lives in Wythenshawe, where Shameless, the Channel 4 drama about families living on the dole, was filmed.
A source said: “A lot of people on the estate who know who her son is can’t believe she is working as a cleaner.
“It is a bit odd that while he is polishing his Premier League winner’s medal, she is polishing desks.”
Last week, Mario, 21, was pictured larking around on a jetski in Ibiza and drinking champagne with pals on the French Riviera.
But while he has been living it up after his starring role for Italy at Euro 2012, Rose has been hard at work clearing up after office workers.
Rose, 46, and her husband Thomas, who are from Ghana, gave Mario up for adoption when he was two.
He was taken in by the wealthy Balotelli family because Mario had a life-threatening intestinal condition that was made worse by the tiny flat where they lived in Brescia, Italy.
They later claimed the Balotellis turned Mario against them.
But, talking of attempts to rekindle her relationship with her son, Rose has said: “Mario has been over to see me a few times.
“We don’t see each other all the time as he has his life and I have mine.”
She left her husband behind and moved to Manchester last Christmas with teenage daughter Angel to be close to Mario.
The striker has stunned Wythenshawe residents by turning up in his Bentley several times to visit them.
The source said: “Mario has been round the house, sometimes with his brother Enoch. It is a real sight to see his white Bentley parked up outside.
“It was a surprise to see Rose on this estate when he is earning millions of pounds and lives in a huge house in Alderley Edge.
“But fair play to Rose, she has got on with things and is willing to graft for not a lot of money.
“Apparently she does not want any of Mario’s money. It looks like she is settled and is here to stay.”
Rose is said to enjoy her work and has become popular in the local area.
The source added: “Rose isn’t afraid of hard work and isn’t scared of getting her hands dirty.
“She believes in working and having a job.
“She managed to find a job on Wythenshawe market. It was getting up at the crack of dawn and helping to set up the stalls.
“The cleaning work in the evenings suits her better with Angel because she can spend more time with her in the mornings.
“She has made quite a lot of friends in the area. She’s also very religious and really enjoys attending a local church.”
Balotelli, nicknamed Super Mario, was Italy’s hero at Euro 2012 when he hit two goals to beat Germany and take them to the final, where they lost to Spain.
He has become known for his antics off the pitch. In October, his mansion caught fire after a firework was let off in the bathroom.