Carragher: Balotelli not guaranteed a starting place at Liverpool

Date: 21st August 2014 at 2:23pm
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With AC Milan forward, Mario Balotelli, reportedly in talks over a move to join Liverpool, former Reds defender, Jamie Carragher, has said he is not convinced the Italian would get into the Liverpool starting XI.

With the 24-year-old striker allegedly on the verge of joining the Premier League club for a fee of around €20 million, the Sky Sports pundit has offered his opinion on Balotelli’s potential arrival at Anfield.

“Liverpool definitely need a striker there is no doubt about that, would he be the final piece of the jigsaw? Would he make the starting XI if everyone was fit and firing? Who Knows?” Carragher told SkySports.com.

“At the moment Daniel Sturridge has got 36 goals in 50 games for Liverpool and at this moment he is the main man up front.”

The former England international, who made over 500 appearances at Anfield over 17 seasons, also alluded to the former Manchester City mans off-field problems which often landed him in the spot light during his last spell in England.

“Balotelli is a player who has been here before and did a lot of stuff that was good for us in the media.

He probably didn’t quite show his potential at Manchester City and that, coupled with his off-the-field problems, probably saw him depart.”

But the 36-year-old pundit acknowledged that Liverpool coach, Brendan Rodgers, has had experience in coping with disciplinary issues when dealing with Luis Suarez and concluded by placing faith in the Northern Irish tactician to be able to handle the enigmatic Italian.

“Brendan [Rodgers] has had plenty of practice with Luis [Suarez] I suppose and he [Mario Balotelli] is the Italian number one striker and you want to see good players here.”

Follow Luca Hodges-Ramon on Twitter: @LH_Ramon25

 

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