25 Aug 2014

Done Deal: LFC sign 'world-class' Balotelli for £16m. Reds Legends react to 'risky buy'

It's official: After feverish speculation over the last few days, Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Mario Balotelli from AC Milan.

A statement on the official Liverpool FC website reads:

"Liverpool can confirm they have completed the signing of Italy striker Mario Balotelli, subject to registration. The 24-year-old sealed his switch to Anfield from AC Milan after passing a medical and agreeing a long-term deal".

REACTION

Brendan Rodgers

"This transfer is outstanding value for the club and I think we have done a really smart piece of business. There is no doubting Mario's ability; he is a world-class talent and someone who, for such a young age, has vast experience of playing at the very highest level".

Mario Balotelli

"I'm very happy. We've been talking about coming here and I'm happy to be here. Liverpool are one of the best teams here in England. The football is very good here. It's a great team with young players, and that's why I came here".

Phil Thompson

"Very happy with the Balotelli deal. Nervous but happy. Now behave Mario and you will be loved"

Michael Owen

"It's official. Balotelli signs for Liverpool. General feeling is it's a risky buy but could be great value for money if Rodgers controls him"

Terry McDermott

"Welcome to Liverpool Mario. Wear the shirt with pride and you will be a hero"

Graeme Souness

"It's an enormous gamble by Rodgers, a gamble I don't think he needs to take because he has a very strong group of players"

Gary McAllister

"He’s got great ability, but...Look at his moves; he’s had great opportunities at big clubs and that fee keeps dropping and dropping. It’s not a great deal of money in today’s game, but it will split a lot of people."

For me, this is a potentially exciting transfer, but only if Rodgers utilises Balotelli in the right way. Play him as a lone striker, and he will fail; play him alongside Daniel Sturridge as a secondary striker (slightly withdrawn), and there's a chance it might work out.

Additionally, the £16m transfer fee and alleged £90k-a-week salary are a concern, and a 3-year contract is a gamble (especially if it doesn't work out), but fingers crossed that Balotelli will finally be able to rise above the media hype and produce the goods.

Welcome, Mario!


33 comments:

  1. Its an amazing signing. Brendan rodgers should work him like a dog so that he doesnt have enough time for mischief. From the team point of view its a deadly acquisition, with Suarez gone Liverpool at losing the fear factor upfront and would just be a mediocre team aiming to succeed. Having the threat of Daniel and Luis last season was what contributed to our success leaving so many oppositions with fear even before starting a game! that reason helped us run riot in many many games. NOW with Mario I feel that factor is back and he will soon produce the magic. Also his is a big game player and I would love to see the likes of Terry and Kompany getting F*****

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  2. Brendan seems to be a pretty good man manager and he will need to be, he did ok with Suarez.....eventually, he tamed the wild child that was Sterling, I really hope it works out for the player and the club, as his agent said - its his last chance, a bit like Sturridge when he came to Anfield and that's worked ok, I just hope Brendan hasn't gone to the well once to often.

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  3. YAY. Welcome Mario!

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  4. Everybody keeps stating the obvious with a sense of discovery...we get it...he's a handful. Let's just resolve to support the whole team and let this 'other thing' play out for better or worse. That being said I can't resist quoting this:
    From ESPNFC Horncastle article:

    The curious thing about Balotelli, opined Mario Sconcerti on Sky Italia, is that "champagne corks are popped when he arrives but also when he leaves." If it's understandable why Liverpool are cracking open the bubbly, why then are Milan also celebrating?

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  5. Confirmed #LFC team v @MCFC: Mignolet, Johnson, Moreno, Skrtel, Lovren, Gerrard, Henderson, Allen, Coutinho, Sterling, Sturridge

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  6. Confirmed #LFC subs v @MCFC: Jones, Manquillo, Sakho, Toure, Can, Markovic, Lambert

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  7. Diamond formation.
    .
    Gerrard
    Henderson Allen
    Coutinho

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  8. Harsh on Manqui for sure. Thought he was MOTM vs Southampton. I started out optimistic but now I am scared because Johnson is playing. Allen is good but seems like a safe option. We need to take risks to win games like these and Can was worth the risk IMO.

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  9. No Suso... Add Balo instead of Toure and that is a dependable bench with Lallana to come as well.

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  10. Not sure why Rodgers is going with Johnson. He has done nothing to deserve a place in the starting eleven. We are going to concede goals.


    Allen will do what is asked of him = frustrate the opposition.

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  11. Allen is a dependable player but one that is known to the opposition. Can is an unknown entity and will bring an element of surprise. On the plus side, Demichellis is playing and if Coutinho can work his magic, SAS will have a field day. He is the key to this game.

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  12. Suso clearly is not in Rodgers plans.

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  13. F(*&King Johnson!

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  14. Yeah I do not understand what Rodgers is thinking.

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  15. On second thought, this is has last chance to be put in the shop window, so maybe - I hope that's what Rodgers was thinking. May he have the game of his life and be gone!

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  16. Mate, we are playing Man City, not Accrington Stanley. This is not a game for shop window. We could get hammered...

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  17. Johnson should not be playing. He is a bloody passenger.

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  18. There is just too much competition now.

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  19. He deserves a chance off the bench in case Coutinho has an offday. When he signs for Real Madrid or Barcelona in 3-4 years, we will regret it..

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  20. If Madrid or Barca wanted Suso he would have signed for them by now.

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  21. Two words- Luis Suarez or more in Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz

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  22. Suso had a full season in La Liga last season and nobody has signed him.

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  23. He played for Almeria, one of the worst teams in the league and got one of the highest assist tallies. For the first half of last season, everyone was talking about him but he got injured and attitude issues as well but he deserves the chance. It is also worth remembering that he actually rejected RM and Barca and joined us.

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  24. If he was part of Rodgers plans he would be on the bench. I think it is fair to say Suso does not have a future at Anfield.

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  25. Hundreds of excellent players have good seasons and don't sign for new clubs, so this point is clearly redundant.

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  26. Trust me, I've been disliking Johson for a couple seasons now, never impressed me - but maybe there's some method to the madness.

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  27. This is honestly doing my head in. Did you all talk about this behind my back earlier and decide to wind me up by trashing Johnson, an experienced and skilled full-back with one of the most complete games of any of our players? I don't even...

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  28. Balotelli also does not understand the concept of team, unlike utterly selflessSuarez.

    Balotelli stated in his interview that he hasn't won the CL yet, because at Inter the team won it. He wants to win it for Liverpool. Suggests a Roy of the Rovers mentality.

    Liverpool are back in the Champions League after five years out, and you have got great memories of the competition; you were Inter Milan's youngest ever goalscorer in the tournament and you also won it with them in 2010. Are those experiences something you can bring to Liverpool to help in the Champions League this season?

    I always start a competition wanting to win it. We will see. I want to win another Champions League for sure, because the Champions League wasn't all mine, I was in a team. I want to take this team to the Champions League.

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  29. Mario just has to work hard and buy in to the team philosophy. The first time he starts sulking and not putting in the effort with regards pressing and movement off the ball then he'll be on the bench in 30 seconds. There is no room in the team for someone who lets poor personal form get in the way of team responsibilities. If he fits into the system he'll have every chance to express himself and show his ability, just like Sterling and Sturridge have.


    What he does off the pitch is of no concern and he's managed to pull back a bit on the idiotic yellow and red card offences. It all comes down to his attitude and what happens when things don't go his way. He has to be a guy who enjoys it when the team does well, not just his own personal glory. I can understand a player feeling like they didn't contribute in a team if they didn't play many minutes, but if Mario is on the pitch and Liverpool win games then that should be good enough for him, just like it's good enough for us. Suarez had his own moments of appearing to sulk and that was when he pulled out the stupidity, but he rarely failed to put in a shift for the team, he almost never stopped running and was all about the result. It was when the team failed that Suarez hurt the most and Mario needs to adopt that same attitude.

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