AFP/London

 Liverpool completed their signing of AC Milan’s Italy striker Mario Balotelli yesterday.

The 24-year-old emerged as a target for Reds manager Brendan Rodgers last week and Liverpool had been locked in talks with the former Manchester City star’s agent since agreeing a reported £16 million fee with Milan.

Those negotiations reached a successful conclusion yesterday and Balotelli’s move was confirmed just hours before his new club face his old employers City in a Premier League clash at Eastlands.

“Liverpool can confirm they have completed the signing of Italy striker Mario Balotelli, subject to registration,” a statement on the club’s website announced. The 24-year-old sealed his switch to Anfield from AC Milan after passing a medical and agreeing a long-term deal to become the Reds’ ninth signing of the summer so far.”

Balotelli is not eligible to feature against City, but he is reported to be keen to travel to Manchester to watch the match after completing a one-on-one training session with the Reds’ head of conditioning and fitness Ryland Morgans at the club’s Melwood base. Balotelli had tweeted the news of his signing minutes ahead of the official club announcement, saying: “YNWA! COME ON LIVERPOOL!”

In a club statement on Liverpool’s website, he added: “I’m very happy. We’ve been talking about coming here and now I’m happy to be here.

“Liverpool are one of the best teams here in England and the football is very good here. “It’s a great team with young players, and that’s why I came here.”

Balotelli is believed to have agreed a three-year, heavily incentivised £90,000-per-week contract as he returns to the Premier League after a troubled 18-month spell with Milan, where he often endured racial abuse from opposing fans.

He scored 30 goals in 54 appearances for Milan, but the Italian outfit were still willing to accept Liverpool’s offer for the controversial star, who has netted 13 times for Italy, including the winner against England at the recent World Cup.

Balotelli’s arrival on Merseyside represents a major gamble given his reputation as one of the sport’s most notorious bad-boys.

As well as dazzling with some spectacular goals, Balotelli has also infuriated a series of managers during a chaotic career which has included spells with Inter Milan, City and AC Milan, as well as with the Italy national side.

He clashed with Jose Mourinho on numerous occasions at Inter and also fell out with Roberto Mancini at City, with his eventual sale to Milan in 2013 prompted by a training ground fight with the then City boss.

Rodgers initially ruled out a move for Balotelli during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States and he is believed to have asked for the player’s contract to include strict clauses about his behaviour on and off the pitch.

Last week, Rodgers said no incoming player would be allowed to threaten the “fantastic environment” at the club. But the desire to land a top-class replacement for Luis Suarez, who was sold to Barcelona before the start of the season, persuaded Rodgers to sanction the deal for Balotelli, who won the Premier League and FA Cup during his time at City and also won the Italian title three times with Inter Milan.

Madcap  Balotelli brings chaos and class in equal measure

Just weeks after parting company with controversial star Luis Suarez, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire by signing madcap Italian Mario Balotelli. Rodgers finally admitted defeat in his bid to tame Suarez following the Uruguay bad-boy’s latest bite, this time on Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the recent World Cup, and gratefully accepted Barcelona’s bid for the forward in pre-season. But finding a quality replacement for Suarez has proved harder than expected, and Rodgers yesterday sealed a £16 million swoop for Balotelli despite “categorically” ruling out any chance of signing the Italy international during the Reds’ recent tour of the United States. At the time he distanced himself from Balotelli, Rodgers was understandably worried by the possibility that any repeat of the striker’s previous antics would disrupt the culture of focused professionalism he has established at Anfield. But those concerns have been sacrificed at the altar of pragmatism following the collapse of a deal to sign QPR’s French striker Loic Remy. To go one better than last season’s second place finish in the Premier League, and to cope with the demands of competing in the Champions League, Rodgers needs a quality alternative to England striker Daniel Sturridge. And, aided by a incentivised contract that rewards good behaviour from the Italian, he is willing to gamble on his ability to coax the best from Balotelli—who has won four league titles in England and Italy—without having to engage in too much fire-fighting with a player who once landed himself with a £400,000 repair bill after almost burning down his bathroom. Balotelli’s last spell in the Premier League came to a suitably explosive end when he was sold to AC Milan in January 2013 soon after a training ground scrap with then Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini. That bust-up was the final straw for City after a series of headline-grabbing incidents involving the flamboyant striker, who arrived at Eastlands in 2010 hailed as ‘Super Mario’ and departed three years later ridiculed as ‘Bonkers Balotelli’.

 

Why always me?

From causing a fire in his house after letting off fireworks in the bathroom to throwing darts at City youth team players—not to mention a series of rows with Mancini and his team-mates and countless red cards, Balotelli’s misadventures were a dream come true for the English tabloids.  Balotelli famously unveiled a t-shirt with the slogan ‘Why always me?’ after ending another controversial week with a goal in the Manchester derby, but those moments when his genius outstripped his inner demons were few and far between. The man himself was unrepentant throughout all the chaos and by the time he joined Milan he had convinced himself that the move back to the San Siro, where he had previously played for Inter Milan, was going to be an emotional and successful homecoming. Yet Milan endured a miserable campaign and Balotelli, often subjected to racial abuse by opposing fans, was left in tears on the bench after being substituted at Napoli in February. In typically contrary fashion, he responded to that low by hitting a brilliant winner against Bologna a week later. Balotelli seems to revel in showing off his child-like rebellious streak and has frustrated all his managers by letting inconsistency and a lack of discipline overshadow his tremendous natural talent.

 

Mario Balotelli