Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has now let it be known to everyone that Mario Balotelli has no part of his plan for the club.
On Tuesday the Reds manager stated that although Balotelli still has one more year on his contract, he is too far down on the depth chart to get a starting role at Anfield, and that the club will discuss with the Italian athlete the possibility of a transfer.
“With a lot of players it is not the moment to talk of transfers as it could kill all talks by saying someone was 70 per cent to sign him or whatever,” Klopp explained, per the Mirror.
“But I can talk of Mario because that one is obvious and I have spoken to him about this.
“He’s not at the stage of his career where he should be battling with four or five other players for one or two positions.
“We want him to become the player he was before his injury and the talent is still there, there’s no doubt about it. When we have done the crossing, heading and stuff in training, he has been world class.
“But this is not a situation where he should be battling with other players like this for one position, so it’s clear we need a solution.”
Balotelli signed for Liverpool in the 2014-15 season, but could manage only one Premier League goal in 16 Premier League appearances. The following season he loaned to his former club Milan but struggled to make any more of an impact for the Serie A giants than he had in England.
In 20 Serie A appearances, Balotelli scored one goal, though he had two more goals in three league cup appearances.
The 25-year-old striker was also axed from the Italy national team, failing to earn a single call-up since the end of 2014.
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