Mario Balotelli Signs for Liverpool F.C.
After immense speculation, Italian striker Mario Balotelli formally inked a deal with Liverpool F.C. and will play in the English Premier League wearing the No. 45 jersey.
- Associated Press
- Updated: August 25, 2014 09:45 pm IST
Liverpool has 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 2 and a half 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 has been looking to strengthen its strikeforce after selling Suarez to Barcelona for $130 million.
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.