BRENDAN Rodgers is confident that he will be able to get the best out of new Liverpool signing Mario Balotelli despite the player's trouble-making reputation.
The Italian 24-year-old has returned to the Premier League after finalising his £16million move from AC Milan. He was at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium last night to see his former club beat his new side 3-1.
During his time in Manchester, Balotelli was involved in a series of bizarre incidents off the field as well as training ground bust-ups and ill-tempered reactions on the field. Despite this past, Irish-born Rogers does not see a problem with his new acquisition.
Rogers told Sky Sports: "I've worked with those type of players all my life from when I worked in youth coaching. I never had the finished article and that's how - at times - I like it.
"Most players I like to sit down and look in the eye and see the honesty and the humility that they have.
"I spent a bit of time with him, about three-and-a-half hours, just talking him through Liverpool - it's a massive club and it's a different club, it's a family club with strong family values and as I said behaviour is very important here.
"He's a very bright boy. He was very clever. He understood where he's at this stage of his career and he knows himself that this is probably his last chance.
"I look at the talent. He's a wonderful talent. There's no doubt he's at a stage in his career that this might be the last chance at a big club because he needs to settle down and show maturity.
"He's got huge potential but needs to come to Liverpool and be consistent because if he can do that we've got one hell of a player."
"There's no doubt he's at a stage in his career that this might be the last chance at a big club because he needs to settle down and show maturity" - Brendan Rodgers
However, despite commenting on a good deal for Liverpool in landing Italy’s first-choice striker for just £16million, former Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher believes Rodgers is taking a risk.
He said: “There's a reason he costs £16million and has moved so often within his career already. That is a problem for Liverpool.
"If we could see the Balotelli we saw at Euro 2012 I'd say 'It's a great signing' but I don't want to see the Balotelli I saw at City in a Liverpool shirt: petulant, stupid, sendings-off, walking about.
"I played against him two or three times (and he was) doing nothing in the game and you knew if you got tight to him and put him under pressure he'd fall out again."
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