Poor Mario Balotelli, it seems that nobody wants him this summer. According to reports in Italy, Lazio are the latest club to turn down the struggling centre-forward this summer, despite being offered the chance to take him on loan.
Football Italia state that the Italian giants are only interested in taking Balotelli if they successfully qualify for the Champions League group stage – which requires them to negotiate a qualifying match – and if Liverpool agree to continue paying the 24-year-old’s wages.
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The source believes that Lazio are instead focused on sealing transfers for Genk’s Serbian Under-20 international Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ricardo Kishna of Ajax, who shares the same agent – Mino Raiola – as Balotelli.
It’s been a very difficult twelve months for Balotelli. After joining the Reds from AC Milan last summer he managed just one Premier League goal during the 2014-15 campaign, and that a close-range tap in against Tottenham.
He finished the year with four goals in all competitions and was left out of our squad for the final couple of games. Brendan Rodgers also didn’t select him for our pre-season tour, leading to further speculation over his future.