Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers has told Mario Balotelli to train away from the first-team squad as the forward nears an exit from Anfield.
The international striker only moved to Merseyside last summer when he left AC Milan in a £16 million deal, according to BBC Sport.
However, while the forward was brought to the club ostensibly to replace the goals lost with the departure of Luis Suarez—who moved to Barcelona—the ex-Manchester City hitman endured a miserable campaign.
He managed only one league goal throughout the 2014-15 season, and looks to have come to the end of the road under Rodgers.
While the striker has thus far failed to attract a suitor willing to take the plunge, the arrivals of Christian Benteke, Danny Ings and Roberto Firmino indicate that the forward’s future lies away from Anfield.
Rodgers appears to have made that abundantly clear—according to the Independent—by forcing the forward to train away from the first-team squad.
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According to the English source, Balotelli, along with Jose Enrique and Fabio Borini, have been asked to train away from Rodgers’s first-team squad, and will play no part in the Sunday friendly against Swindon Town.
As noted by the Independent, while Rickie Lambert—another player set for an imminent Liverpool exit [The Guardian]—is being allowed to train with the first-team squad, Rodgers does not want the trio to be mixing with the other players.