Liverpool have signed Italy striker Mario Balotelli from AC Milan, taking a calculated gamble on a headline-grabbing player known as much for his controversies as his goals.
Nineteen months after ending a two-year spell with Manchester City to play for his boyhood club, Balotelli returns to the English Premier League as a replacement for Luis Suarez – another of world football’s talented but disruptive stars.
Liverpool have been looking to strengthen their strikeforce after selling Suarez to Barcelona for £75 million.
Read more: Balotelli to arrive at Liverpool as bold successor to Suarez, writes Richard Jolly
During his time at City, in which he won the league title, Balotelli was sent off four times, threw a dart at a youth-team player and was involved in an incident that saw fireworks let off in his bathroom.
Balotelli emerged as a target for manager Brendan Rodgers last week and Liverpool have agred a reported £16 million fee with Milan.
The 24-year-old Italian was photographed going through a one-on-one session with the Reds’ head of conditioning and fitness Ryland Morgans while wearing a Liverpool training top at the club’s Melwood base earlier in the day.
Balotelli is believed to have agreed a three-year, heavily incentivised £90,000-per-week contract with the Premier League team after passing a two-part medical over the weekend.
Balotelli is reported to be keen to travel to Manchester on Monday evening to watch his new club play his former employers City at Eastlands.
His arrival on Merseyside represents a major gamble given his reputation as one of the sport’s most notorious bad-boys.
As well as dazzling with some spectacular goals, Balotelli has also infuriated a series of managers during a chaotic career which has included spells with Inter Milan, City and AC Milan, as well as with the Italy national side.
He clashed with Jose Mourinho on numerous occasions at Inter and also fell out with Roberto Mancini at City, with his eventual sale to Milan in 2013 prompted by a training ground fight with the Eastlands boss.
Rodgers initially ruled out a move for Balotelli during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States and he is believed to have asked for the player’s contract to include strict clauses about his behaviour on and off the pitch.
The desire to land a top-class replacement for Luis Suarez, who was sold to Barcelona before the start of the season, eventually persuaded Rodgers to sanction the deal for Balotelli, who won the Premier League and FA Cup during his time at City.
Speaking about the standards of behaviour expected at Liverpool and his determination to protect them, Rodgers said: “I think every club will have a code of conduct for the people and professionals who work [for them].
“We have quite an extensive code of conduct for players and staff - there is no specific one for any one individual.
“We have a fantastic environment here and a great culture and I think it is something that was very important for us to create and build here.
“There will be nothing that will ever shake that or provoke it in any way. It is something I always protect at the club.”
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