£16m is a good price but what's his goal scoring like when you take out the penalties? He and Sturridge are both #9s as well which seems odd on paper. Interesting to see if Rodgers has a bigger plan in mind.
Balotelli signs for Liverpool - Official
- Thread starter shaggy
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From theGuardian
Barring any reservations on Rodgers’ part, Balotelli will be Liverpool’s final signing of a productive summer. A £16m fee has been agreed with Milan and personal terms have also been resolved following smooth negotiations between the Liverpool chief executive, Ian Ayre, and Balotelli’s agent, Mino Raiola. The striker has accepted a basic £80,000-a-week deal from Liverpool, half what he earns in Italy, with top-ups dependent on a series of stringent behaviour-and-performance clauses worth up to £2m a year. He has been offered a three-year contract with the option of a fourth belonging solely to Liverpool.
Barring any reservations on Rodgers’ part, Balotelli will be Liverpool’s final signing of a productive summer. A £16m fee has been agreed with Milan and personal terms have also been resolved following smooth negotiations between the Liverpool chief executive, Ian Ayre, and Balotelli’s agent, Mino Raiola. The striker has accepted a basic £80,000-a-week deal from Liverpool, half what he earns in Italy, with top-ups dependent on a series of stringent behaviour-and-performance clauses worth up to £2m a year. He has been offered a three-year contract with the option of a fourth belonging solely to Liverpool.
That's cute.
Tony Barrett has said terms have been finalised and he should join early next week. He'll earn £90k a week as a base salary with an additional £40k a week if he meets on and off the pitch objectives. It is a three year deal, but if we want we have an option for a fourth (the option lies in the club's hands). He also says he consulted with a number of people including Gerrard.
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This is certainly the most 'Liverpool' of the 'big signings' they could have made. Well done.
Not a bad contract either. Especially if the incentives can force him to focus on performing well and not messing up. Smart move.
Wrong. Last Red Card was Sept. 2013.
AS already posted in here a few times
5 pens in 21 goals last season (inc. both club & country).Seems like a solid piece of business, as long as Mario keeps his head straight.
Wouldn't they have been better served going for a forward/attacking player that could play off Sturridge versus a similar striker type?
Wouldn't they have been better served going for a forward/attacking player that could play off Sturridge versus a similar striker type?
There is no way Balo is getting 160k per week at Milan right now
Yeah I think that is ridiculous
Mario's agent to Italian newspaper. Excerpts courtesy @mario_aquilina
-Raiola interview this morning on Corriere 1: #LFC have been interested in Balotelli for 3 months. Offer only came this week
- I wanted Balotelli to move to a team where he's not expected to be a leader. Gerrard will help
- At his age, if Balotelli fails at #LFC, his career at elite level is over
- Balotelli deal will be finalized on Monday or Tuesday. Many little details still to conclude
- It's not true that Balotelli has special behavior clauses. His contract is like everybody else's (does not deny bonus)
- #LFC only English team after Balotelli. I wanted him away from Italy, from press, pressure, expectations
- He needs to feel free to score goals and play well. Fullstop. No burdens of leadership like at Milan
- He can be important at #LFC but will be protected. He better not fail.
-Raiola interview this morning on Corriere 1: #LFC have been interested in Balotelli for 3 months. Offer only came this week
- I wanted Balotelli to move to a team where he's not expected to be a leader. Gerrard will help
- At his age, if Balotelli fails at #LFC, his career at elite level is over
- Balotelli deal will be finalized on Monday or Tuesday. Many little details still to conclude
- It's not true that Balotelli has special behavior clauses. His contract is like everybody else's (does not deny bonus)
- #LFC only English team after Balotelli. I wanted him away from Italy, from press, pressure, expectations
- He needs to feel free to score goals and play well. Fullstop. No burdens of leadership like at Milan
- He can be important at #LFC but will be protected. He better not fail.
I think this could be a good signing for them sadly, although not sure if he will have the fans backing like other players if he cocks it up, not sure he's the type to buy into the Liverpool mindset so many players do.
Raiola bleating on about what he wants rather than what the player wants. Typical of him.
Did his agent really said gems like "if he fails, his career is over" or "he better not fail!"?
Balotelli is a liability.
They're in love with him already, some of the Scousers on Twitter are already defending him from things he hasn't done yet.
His agent is a turd of galactic proportions. Read Zlatan's autobiography.
Even his agent doesn't seem convinced by him.
He's not even as talented as some people make out. You'd think he could have been a world beater the way some go on about his potential. He'll score goals though and on paper is good backup for Sturrudge. But if he is resigned to the bench too much he'll create problems.
At what age does "huge potential" become wasted potential?
27. #Truth.
Yeah, coming back to England is really great for him in that regard. When he left he complained about the press. Surely the press here is as bad, if not moreso than it is there?Think he'll be a good signing.
Players get suspended after picking up yellow cards also.
Yeah, one of the reasons I'm worried about the signing. He's up there with the likes of Kia in the awfully disruptive agent ranks.
I don't think it will, he's a big baby.
Got to be worse here ! Though I doubt the minutia in their lives is scrutinised to the same extent here, and players are given more personal space on the street, restaurants etc.
So is this confirmed yet? It was moving at the speed of light one day and now it seems to have slowed down a bit.
Good price and exciting signing for them. Could well prove an excellent buy.
He made be a dock but he is a character and entertaining. Good to have on the EPL.
He made be a dock but he is a character and entertaining. Good to have on the EPL.
Bit cold..
Decided to look it up. A yellow or red card every 191 minutes so far in his professional league career. Mental.
For comparison's sake, Lee Cattermole is every 202 minutes, Sergio Ramos is every 216, and the most carded player in PL history, Lee Bowyer, is every 303.
Well I think he did very well with a particularly unbalanced individual which he sold on this summer and I would agree he did over achieve last year but his over achievement has given him a bit more time to build his squad.
I really rate Balotelli as a player, but I'm not too worried about the Scousers getting him. Firstly, I don't think he suits their sustem that well (as both him and Sturridge prefer to be up top). And he just seems to lose all desire to bother in some games when one or two things go against him. There was a perfect example in the World Cup where the coach had to hook him off at HT because his head had gone.
I disagree with whoever was saying he isn't a negative effect on team morale a while back in this thread, because having a player who on any given day just decides to not bother is terrible for morale. Especially for the players who are consistently being benched to accommodate him.
For entertainment value, I'm delighted he's back. The Sousers will absolutely love defending this guy. Get the T-shirts, email campaigns, poems and open latters ready lads, you'll need all of your vast experience and armory for this one.
I disagree with whoever was saying he isn't a negative effect on team morale a while back in this thread, because having a player who on any given day just decides to not bother is terrible for morale. Especially for the players who are consistently being benched to accommodate him.
For entertainment value, I'm delighted he's back. The Sousers will absolutely love defending this guy. Get the T-shirts, email campaigns, poems and open latters ready lads, you'll need all of your vast experience and armory for this one.
Indeed.
Mario is a talent but one thing is certain - he's not about the team, he's just all about Mario. To a side supposedly built on team spirit that could be a massive issue.
They've lost Suarez and despite his baggage he worked his socks off and performed week in week out. Ballotelli won't work when they don't have the ball and that has the potential to really piss his teammates off. It's ok if your Ibrahimovic and do the business consistently - but he hasn't yet.
At City he was good when he was good and awful when he wasn't. Even Mancini, a bloke who coached him for years at Inter and fought his corner, couldn't control him.
This is a massive risk. They seem to have a good team dynamic and I can't see him happy just being one of the lads. Could ruin the whole thing and then they're lumbered because I suspect this is his last chance.
For all Suarez faults he was easier to defend because he performed and fitted into the team.
Ballotelli is a liability when his head goes down. Those kinds of Maverick players were more common years ago but you can't carry anyone in the PL or Europe these days - even the show ponies need to work hard for the team.
Balotelli was targeted ridiculously by referees during his time at City. Be interesting to see if he gets the same treatment at Liverpool. He deserved a lot of his cards for sure and got away with some things but he'd do one foul and the refs would book him solely because of his reputation.
He'll have Gerrard in the referee's ear here, probably the most influential captain in the league.
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