Liverpool add bite with Mario Balotelli

The Italy international has all the natural attributes you could wish for in a centre forward, with searing pace, power, a delicate touch, acute vision and a knack for attempting the improbable and producing the goods on the big occasions.

Yet the former Manchester City forward who left AC Milan for Anfield for a speculated fee of £16 million ($26.54 million) is no stranger to controversy.

His 2-1/2-year spell at Manchester City was noted for training ground flare ups with colleagues including a well-documented confrontation with former boss Roberto Mancini when the pair had to be pulled apart.

Yet he is better known for some off-the-wall acts of brainless stupidity such as setting his house ablaze by allowing fireworks to be let off in the bathroom.

He also visited a women’s prison just “to have a look round”, went on TV in an AC Milan shirt while playing for rivals Inter and threw a dart at a Manchester City youth team player as a prank.

In isolation, these incidents could be funny. As it is, their volume and frequency suggest Balotelli could be a high-maintenance personality on Merseyside.

The question for Liverpool fans is, will he be worth the potential hassle and media scrutiny that they thought had ended when Uruguay forward Suarez packed his bags for Barcelona?

Liverpool manager Rodgers hailed his attributes earlier when his side faced Milan in a friendly in the United States. “Balotelli is a big talent,” Rodgers said. “I saw that in his time at Inter Milan as a young player and obviously going to Manchester City when we had a real close eye on him there. He’s got all the qualities. He’s 6ft 3ins, he’s quick, his touch is terrific and he can score goals. He went back to Italy to play and he’s still so young. If his focus is right, his concentration is right and he leads the lifestyle of a top player then he can play for any team in the world.”

The Liverpool boss must feel that he can coax the good out of Balotelli and has perhaps been influenced by reports of a softer side. The striker’s bizarre back story includes tales of genuine generosity such as when he walked into a university library and paid off all the students’ fines and when he arrived at a petrol station and paid for full tanks for everyone. As well as the time he put numerous homeless people up in a Manchester hotel for a night.