Bad news: After failing to make an impression in Serie A this season, it looks increasingly like on-loan Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli^ is heading back to Anfield this summer.
When asked this week about Balotelli's future, AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani delivered the following blunt assessment:
"Mario is desperate to stay here at Milan, But like I have said before, he does not merit a permanent deal at the moment. He has to convince us to earn a permanent deal".
Balotelli - hailed in February by Milan Chief Silvio Berlusconi for his 'exceptional ball control' - is (or should be) finished at Liverpool, but if he returns, I just don't see how he'll fit into Klopp's preferred way of playing:
* Using Balotelli as a lone striker is a non-starter. As last season proved, he's not suited to the role, and intensive high-pressing is not a feature of his game.
* Balotelli can be utilised as a second striker/number-10 (his self-confessed preferred role), but is he a better option there than Coutinho, and Firmino? (That's a rhetorical question).
Balotelli is currently linked with a big-money move to the Chinese league, and with €15m per season on the table, that's probably where he'll end up.
It's an obscene (and undeserved) amount of money, but if if gets Balotelli off the books, then so be it.
^ Worth £45m according to his Agent.
Author: Jaimie K
When asked this week about Balotelli's future, AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani delivered the following blunt assessment:
"Mario is desperate to stay here at Milan, But like I have said before, he does not merit a permanent deal at the moment. He has to convince us to earn a permanent deal".
Balotelli - hailed in February by Milan Chief Silvio Berlusconi for his 'exceptional ball control' - is (or should be) finished at Liverpool, but if he returns, I just don't see how he'll fit into Klopp's preferred way of playing:
* Using Balotelli as a lone striker is a non-starter. As last season proved, he's not suited to the role, and intensive high-pressing is not a feature of his game.
* Balotelli can be utilised as a second striker/number-10 (his self-confessed preferred role), but is he a better option there than Coutinho, and Firmino? (That's a rhetorical question).
Balotelli is currently linked with a big-money move to the Chinese league, and with €15m per season on the table, that's probably where he'll end up.
It's an obscene (and undeserved) amount of money, but if if gets Balotelli off the books, then so be it.
^ Worth £45m according to his Agent.
Author: Jaimie K
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