Mario Balotelli to complete £16m Liverpool move

• Posted on August 25, 2014August 25, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Mario Balotelli will fly into Merseyside to finalise his move to Liverpool, according to Sky sources.

The Italy international is believed to have passed his medical after spending Friday evening at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground and will tie up his £16m switch from AC Milan.

Balotelli’s return to the Premier League will not be in time for him to make his debut against former club Manchester City, but he might be at the Etihad for the Premier League match.

Former Reds manager Graeme Souness has raised concerns about Liverpool’s decision to recruit the controversial 24-year-old, whose discipline was questioned during his stay with City.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers refused to be drawn on whether the club wanted a behaviour clause included in Balotelli’s contract.

“I think every player has a code of conduct for the people and the professionals at work,” said Rodgers.

“We have quite an extensive code for players and staff. We haven’t got a specific one for anyone individually. It covers across the professional group of people here both staff and players.

“We have a fantastic environment and a great culture. I think over the last two years it was very important for us to build here.

“There will be nothing that will ever shake that or to provoke it in anyway. That is something I will always protect. The environment here is fantastic.

“We’ve got a real learning environment here for players. And you can see over the years that lots of players have improved and developed.”