The 24-year-old is set to undergo a medical ahead of his €20m move from AC Milan on Friday and the Reds boss insists he has no apprehensions over the striker’s behaviour
Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool is prepared to take “a risk” by signing Mario Balotelli.
The 24-year-old has travelled to England to undergo a medical ahead of a €20 million move from AC Milan.
The striker said his farewells to his team-mates after training today after a fee of around £16m was agreed between the clubs.
Rodgers refused to confirm Liverpool’s approach for the Italy international on Friday but admitted the club is willing to gamble on the former Manchester City striker.
“I can categorically tell you I can’t speak about it before the player have signed,” said the Liverpool manager.
“We always said we were working for another striker. If we can do a deal for anyone we will.
“Sometimes you have to take a risk with people, but a lot of the time if you take that risk you get a reward for it.
“It’s not easy finding new players as there’s a small pool of players we could actually buy. But a lot of good work is going on.”
Rodgers insists he has no apprehensions about Balotelli’s behaviour and says the forward will be given the chance to develop at Anfield.
“We have an intensive code of conduct for any member of staff here. That covers everyone, not one particular individual,” said Rodgers.
“Nothing will ever shake our fantastic environment. We’ve got a learning environment for players, lots of players improving.
“No player would come into here if I felt it couldn’t work. If I can help the person, then it’s something I will look at too.
“People who know me well will tell you I look to try and develop the player and the person. Thankfully we have that culture here.
“I’ve shown before that as long as players care and want to learn, we can give them the opportunity to develop.”
Balotelli’s discipline on and off the field was questioned in his stay with Manchester City from 2010 to 2013 and it was reported later on Thursday that Liverpool were demanding a good behaviour clause in his contract.
He scored 17 goals for Milan last season but was booked nine times and sent off once.
