3) One final chance for Mario Balotelli…
The Mario Balotelli gamble has so far not paid off. Not by a long-shot. The Italian’s notched one Premier League goal since his £16m summer move, and been given a lowly eight top flight starts all season. His performances have probably not warranted many more minutes than this – but in very occasional glimpses, Balotelli’s showed why he’s always been rated as a potentially world-class player. It would be great to see the striker deployed up top alongside Daniel Sturidge – like Luis Suarez was last season when we were at our most fluid and most dangerous. Sturridge’s injuries have meant this has been mostly impossible, and it’s only happened once in the Premier League all term – back in August away to Spurs. We won that game 3-0… If he continues to flop when given a chance in the upcoming Premier League fixtures, then we can accept any summer departure – but if he remains on the bench – it will continue to be a case of ‘what could have been’.
