I left Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp but glaring 'disaster' influenced my exit

There is a long list of players who have etched their names in Liverpool history thanks to the groundbreaking impact they have had on the club over the years. There are also players who remain talking points among the fanbase despite having less successful spells at Anfield.

The Reds are no strangers to being let down by signings tipped to go the distance on Merseyside. Mario Balotelli remains one of the main names brought up when discussing Liverpool flops.

The former Manchester City star made the £16 million move to Anfield from AC Milan in 2014, viewed as a direct replacement for Luis Suarez. However, his time with the Reds was short-lived and in 28 appearances, Balotelli mustered up just four goals, including the one lone goal in the Premier League.

His role under Brendan Rodgers quickly started to fizzle out and he was shipped out on loan back to Milan before a permanent exit to Nice on a free transfer.

“I must accept my faults, but the formation chosen by Rodgers was not suited to my characteristics,” Balotelli said in an interview with Gazzetta back in 2015 (via The Liverpool Echo). “At the beginning I missed several easy chances, then I had fewer chances to score, a bit of bad luck, injuries. But I never complained, I accepted the decisions of the manager and I always behaved like a professional.”

Balotelli did defend his level of commitment on the training pitch during his time with Liverpool. The training was also something he did praise Rodgers on but admitted that overall, the now Celtic manager was a ‘disaster’.

“He was number one as far as training sessions were concerned, what with keeping possession of the ball and the small-sided games. But as a person he was a disaster,” Balotelli told TVPlay.

Overall, it was far from a successful period of time for both the player and manager. Rodgers admitted he found it ‘very difficult’ to connect with Balotelli and Steven Gerrard revealed in his autobiography that the Irishman had come to him to admit he would be taking a gamble on the Italian international.

“I could see that, in the right mood, he was a quality footballer but the rest of his career seemed like a spectacular waste of talent. That was my opinion of Balotelli,” Gerrard wrote in ‘My Story’.

Similarly, Rodgers told talkSPORT: “On the field, he tried his best. But it certainly wasn’t something that worked out as everyone would like. If he could ever match that intensity with his talent, then he’d be one of the best players in the world.”

Since leaving Liverpool, Balotelli has played for seven different clubs, most recently representing Adana Demirspor in Turkey. The 34-year-old is currently without a club and his Transfermarkt value has gradually dipped since his time at Liverpool. After being deemed surplus by Rodgers, Balotelli departed under Jurgen Klopp, who underwent a huge squad shakeup before establishing the team Arne Slot has since inherited.