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Liverpool to roll the dice on Balotelli

LONDON — It may have been coincidental, but as the news was breaking of Liverpool’s £16 million (S$33.1 million) bid for striker Mario Balotelli, senior members of the Anfield PR department were gathering at the club’s Melwood training ground.

Mario Balotelli. Getty Images

Mario Balotelli. Getty Images

LONDON — It may have been coincidental, but as the news was breaking of Liverpool’s £16 million (S$33.1 million) bid for striker Mario Balotelli, senior members of the Anfield PR department were gathering at the club’s Melwood training ground.

Coincidence or not, the PR and marketing gurus will know they now have to rationalise the most startling and risk-taking of deals for the Merseyside public’s consumption.

To go from Luis Suarez to Balotelli is not so much from frying pan to fire as from blazing inferno to extreme solar storm.

The Uruguayan, who, for all his talents, was privately described as “a massive headache” due to his numerous indiscretions, had vacated the building, to be replaced by the only player in world football with more baggage than Heathrow and JFK combined.

It was less than three weeks ago that Brendan Rodgers — ahead of a pre-season fixture with AC Milan — was mocking a digital age in which he could not lavish praise upon the striker without being linked with a multi-million pound move.

He was “categorical” in stating publicly it would never happen, and privately a message was despatched that if Balotelli’s name was ever linked with Liverpool, it could be rebuffed in the most emphatic terms.

Three weeks on, in a Suarez replacement search that has often given the impression the club’s scouts have been working their way through UEFA’s striker database, Balotelli has suddenly become a more palatable option.

The phrase “he is better than nothing” has not been used, but the sentiment cannot be far off as Rodgers contemplated a demanding campaign at home and in Europe with only Daniel Sturridge and Ricky Lambert as forward options.

Liverpool, not unlike their rivals Manchester United, have tonnes of money to spend this summer, but one is put in mind of a randy sailor — the last off his boat after months at sea — making his way into town with a pocket full of cash only to discover the best-looking ladies have all been taken. Crude, yes, but given how modern transfer activity is conducted, hardly an inaccurate appraisal.

Balotelli has been available all summer and with all other options (apparently) exhausted, it is fair to say Rodgers has been convinced of the merits of assuming the role of babysitter, social worker, psychiatrist and fire safety officer in between his usual duties as a football manager.

At £16 million, you won’t find a more attractively priced striker of such pedigree this summer.

It’s a risk, but a calculated one.

Some will also say Rodgers is the man to give Balotelli the focus he has lacked; the manager who will ensure the only headlines are related to sport. It is some leap of faith to presume Rodgers will succeed where the likes of Mourinho and Roberto Mancini failed, but he now has no choice but to try.

When Liverpool lost Suarez, they not only lost one of the world’s greatest players, but the “X-factor” star whose unpredictability struck fear into opposition defenders as much as the public relations gurus.

Unlike his predecessor, Balotelli’s capacity to infuriate has far exceeded examples of skill in his career so far.

In signing Balotelli, Liverpool might have brought the circus back to town. One hopes for Rodgers’ sake it is more like the greatest show on earth than send in the clown.

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