Former Liverpool stars have say on Mario Balotelli’s signing as Brendan Rodgers admits it’s a risk

BRENDAN Rodgers admits he’s taking a risk signing Mario Balotelli, but what do some of Liverpool’s greats have to say about the Italian’s move?

MARIO Balotelli completed his move to Liverpool on Tuesday morning, and judging by the side’s showing in a 3-1 loss to Manchester City hours later, the Italian’s debut in a Reds’ shirt can’t come soon enough.

Super Mario was on hand at Etihad Stadium to watch his former employer dish out a lesson to his new one, and plenty of the pre-match talk centred on the former AC Milan man’s arrival in a $28 million deal.

Manager Brendan Rodgers admitted he was taking a “calculated risk” with the signing while Reds legend Jamie Carragher had his own concerns over a player known to blow hot and cold.

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Balotelli has courted controversy wherever his career has taken him, and some have expressed concerns the combustible 24-year-old’s attitude and propensity to let his emotions get the better of him could come back to bite Liverpool.

For those on the other side of the divide, $28m could represent an absolute a steal for a player with World Cup and Champions League experience. Brendan Rodgers admitted he needed

someone to compliment Daniel Sturridge and he’s putting his faith in Super Mario.

Here’s what some big names had to say about Balotelli’s return to England.

Mario, himself

“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,” he told the club’s website.

“Whenever I played against Liverpool, the fans weren’t nice with me but that’s normal - it’s football! Now that I play for Liverpool, I can see the expectation in people. They’re very happy and that makes me very happy at the same time.

Super Mario will wear the No.45 jersey for the Reds.

“I’m happy to be back because I left England and it was a mistake. I wanted to go to Italy but I realised it was a mistake. English football is generally better. English football is beautiful.”

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers

“I think to get someone of that quality in this market is a very good deal for us,” he said following the defeat to City.

“He is a world-class talent and it is an area we need to strengthen. It is a calculated risk but one where we believe we can help him as a player and to mature as a young man.

“I don’t have any concerns at all [about Balotelli disrupting the Liverpool squad]. It won’t be affected. He comes with a reputation but we hope at our club we can curb that behaviour. He knows he is part of a team. There are no egos or big-time Charlies in our squad.

“I’ve been very impressed by the man himself because he is very honest. He knows his flaws and his faults and he is looking for someone to help him with it. Of course it is a risk, we are not going to say it isn’t, but he is a big talent.”

Rodgers was obviously in a jovial mood when asked about his new player.

Reds legend Jamie Carragher

“I think it’s good business from Liverpool, but there has got to be a worry signing Balotelli,” he said on Sky Sports Monday Night Football.

“There’s a reason he costs £16 million and has moved so often within his career already. That is a problem for Liverpool. If we see the Balotelli of Euro 2012 then I’d say it’s a great signing, but I don’t want to see the Balotelli we saw at City in a Liverpool shirt; petulant, stupid sendings-off, walking about…

“I played against him two or three times and he did nothing in the game. You knew if you got tight to him and put him under pressure he’d fall out of the game. We’ve got to see more than that.”

Liverpool's new man Mario Balotelli watches on at the Etihad with fellow recruit Adam Lallana.

Former Manchester United defender, Gary Neville

“They are getting a goalscorer. They needed somebody else up there with Daniel Sturridge. They can’t compete on all levels and not have another presence,” he also said on MNF.

“This is his last chance at what you would call a big club and he has got to deliver.”

Former Liverpool striker, Michael Owen

“General feeling is it’s a risky buy but could be great value for money if Rodgers controls him,” he tweeted.

Former Reds midfielder, Jamie Redknapp

“My worry with Mario is that, while he has that genius in him, he sometimes just looks disinterested and you can’t be like that, especially at a club like Liverpool where the fans demand 100 per cent from every player every week,” Sky Sports pundit said.

“He’s going to have to dig in, work extremely hard, and will have to win the fans over and show straight away that he’s willing to be a another member of their team. If he does that it will be brilliant for Liverpool, but if he doesn’t it will be a disaster.”

Originally published as Former Liverpool stars have say on Mario Balotelli’s signing as Brendan Rodgers admits it’s a risk