Does This 25-year Old Have A Future At Liverpool?

It has been proved that Mario Balotelli was a gamble by Liverpool and not necessarily by Brendan Rodgers a couple of years ago. The Italian didn’t really made any great marks in the Liverpool team and at the start of this season, he was shuffled off to Milan.

The Serie A side was the club he supported as a youngster and it was thought that he would rejuvenate his career at the club but that has not happened yet. The 25-year-old has all the talent in the world but that does not come out in his performances.

This season, he has only scored one goal for Milan in the league so far and that certainly casts a shadow on his future not only at Milan but also at Liverpool.

No homecoming in England or Italy

While Liverpool would have the option to recall him from his loan spell, that is hardly going to happen this season as the Reds don’t really have a lot to play for and Jurgen Klopp would be planning for next season when he gets a transfer kitty to play around with.

Liverpool have been linked with a number of players from the Bundesliga, but not only player has been a striker so far. From Granit Xhaka to Neven Subotic, Liverpool seems to have scoured many teams but there hasn’t been a link with a Lewandowski or Keisling.

The closest Liverpool have come to with an attacking player is being linked with Mario Gotze but he is no striker.

The issue with Balotelli is that he does not fit Jurgen Klopp’s playing style either. The German prefers a high pressing game and that is something that the Italian striker might not be able to adjust to. Klopp had stated that he is open to Balotelli coming back but in reality there really is no hope for the Italian to call Anfield his home next season.

Returning stars for Liverpool

Daniel Sturridge has returned to full team action and even though he looks rusty, he should be in full flow at the start of next season. Danny Ings, someone who has missed almost the entire campaign this year will also be back and he would be the best-fitted player for Klopp’s style of football.

There are huge doubts about Christian Benteke staying at Anfield with news coming in that he will be shipped out next season as well. That only leaves Mario as the final striker.

Roberto Firmino might have been seen as another attacking midfielder by Brendan Rodgers but the Brazilian has found a new lease of life under Klopp who uses him as a striker in certain games. The movement and passing of Firmino certainly brings in play the other attackers in the team and that could be the reason why Balotelli has to leave Liverpool.

At the start of his career at Merseyside, Brendan Rodgers did state that this would be Balo’s last chance at a top club and that clearly has not worked for the Italian or Liverpool. The Reds will have to take a hit of 16 million pounds with this transfer but hopefully, Klopp would have learned from his predecessor’s mistakes and would look at a better set of players for Liverpool in the upcoming transfer window.