Let’s face it, there are a fair few sports men and women out there who like the sound of their own voice (not naming any names), but on the odd occasion there is that one person who brightens up your day with a perfectly executed comment.

So, with that in mind as we prepare to wistfully say a fond farewell to yet another year, Sportsmail took a look back on rather eventful 12 months for sports personalities on social media in order to crown the ultimate king and queen of Twitter.

2014 King of Twitter - where to begin? There were various nominees for this illustrious title but in our eyes there was only one candidate for this one.

He’s outspoken, yes, and gets into trouble for airing his sometimes ill-thought (but well-intentioned) thoughts online… and that person is Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli.

Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Balotelli recently got himself into serious trouble for an Instagram post that used an anti-Semitic tone.

Although the former Manchester City man apologised, he was consequently slapped with a £25,000 fine, a one match ban and forced to attend an education course to teach him the dos and don’ts of opening one's mouth.

With the issue seemingly put to bed (until the day he inevitably puts his foot in it again), we move onto why we believe the 24-year-old Italy front man deserves such accolade. And it was summed up in two concise but hilarious tweets.

Following on from Manchester United’s embarrassing 5-3 defeat by Leicester back in September, Balotelli went on Twitter to let his fans know what he thought of Louis van Gaal’s poor start to the season.

In just three words, Balotelli took down the Premier League giants with aplomb by saying ‘Man utd… LOL’, a tweet that received over 200,000 retweets and 100,000 favourites. Not bad.

But his crowning moment came when he delivered again during last summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

Speaking ahead of Italy’s clash with surprise group leaders Costa Rica, the controversial striker set sides splitting by saying if he were to score and keep England in competition for qualification he would expect a kiss from none other than the Queen herself... Italy lost 1-0 and England were sent packing. Maybe some other time, Mario.

(dailymail.co.uk)