Owen and Carragher not convinced by maverick Italian.
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Former Liverpool duo Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher have both expressed their doubts about the club’s shock signing of AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli for a fee of £16 million, report the Star, despite the apparent bargain fee paid by the Reds for the Italian international.
One time Anfield striker Michael Owen, who sullied his reputation with the club’s supporters following a late career move to Manchester United, taking to Twitter to describe the deal bringing Balotelli to Anfield as “risky”:
It’s official. Balotelli signs for Liverpool. General feeling is it’s a risky buy but could be great value for money if Rodgers controls him
— michael owen (@themichaelowen) August 25, 2014
However, Owen also acknowledged that the £16m fee paid by Brendan Rodgers and his Liverpool bosses for Balotelli could represent a real bargain buy if the Italian is able to put his disciplinary issues behind him and focus on improving as a football – something that he was able to convince Rodgers of when the two met face-to-face over the weekend.
The report suggests that Owen’s former Anfield teammate, defender Jamie Carragher, expressed similar sentiments over the signing of the former Manchester City man when he spoke ahead of this evening’s huge Premier League clash against title winners Manchester City:
“When I first heard about it I was shocked. He wasn’t someone I thought they were looking to bring in.”
“Liverpool needed a striker and £16m is a great price for Italy’s no.1 striker.”
“But we want to see more than the Manchester City Mario Balotelli.”
Balotelli spent a couple of years at Eastlands under Roberto Mancini, a time that was marred by off-the-field controversies and bust-ups with both his manager and teammates despite some flashes of real talent on the pitch.
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