Mario Balotelli will be leaving AC Milan for Liverpool after the two clubs agreed to a £16 million (20 million euros/$26.5 million) transfer fee for the Italian striker. Balotelli previously played for Manchester City from 2010-2013, so the Premier League is nothing new for him.
The 24-year-old will play for his third team since 2010 and will leave Serie A soccer to join the Premier League once again. Liverpool will add to their young talent and improve their chances of remaining atop the PL rankings where they finished second last year. The club got off to a good start in Week 1 this past Sunday with a 2-1 victory over Southampton.
Liverpool has only two strikers on the active roster - Daniel Sturridge and Rickie Lambert - and they utilize just one in their 4-2-3-1 formation, so it's interesting to see how Balotelli will be plugged in. Sturridge, the starter, is also 24-years-old and scored a goal in the first match against Southampton. He scored 21 goals and recorded seven assists for Liverpool during Premier League play last year in just 29 games, so Balotelli will not be a shoo-in for the starting striker position, unless manager Brendan Rogers opts to change the formation to incorporate the Italian.
"Mario Balotelli left the Milanello Sports Centre at 13:30 after having said goodbye to his teammates," AC Milan said in a statement earlier today. "The forward, before exiting through the gates, bid farewell to the press office staff. Around 50 fans were also grouped in front of the gates to say goodbye to him."
Balotelli helped lead Manchester City to a Premier League title in 2012 - their first since 1968 - when he scored 20 goals in 33 games. We'll see how he fits in on Liverpool's roster as the club faces last year's champions Manchester City on Monday at 3 p.m. ET.
"Balotelli is a player who has been here before and did a lot of stuff that was good for us in the media," said football expert Jamie Carragher, in this Sky Sports article. "He probably didn't quite show his potential at Manchester City and that, coupled with his off-the-field problems, probably saw him depart. He's the Italian number one striker and you want to see good players here. Liverpool do need a striker."
