Mario Balotelli's Liverpool Future Uncertain, Brendan Rodgers Says

Brendan Rodgers says he is “not sure” whether Mario Balotelli will still be a Liverpool player when the new season begins.

Balotelli was left out of the squad to tour south east Asia and Australia and is instead training back at the club’s Melwood base.

The £16m striker, who started just 10 league games last season, angered some Liverpool supporters on Monday when he publicly congratulated former team-mate Raheem Sterling on his debut goal for Manchester City.

And Rodgers stopped short of guaranteeing Balotelli’s Anfield future when the question was put to him at a Kuala Lumpur press conference ahead of Friday’s game against a Malaysia XI.

He said: “I’m not sure – that’ll be entirely up to Mario. He’s working very hard to get fit and that’s something we’ll see when the season begins.

“Mario’s obviously not on the tour, but he’s been training well back at Melwood with a number of other players.”

Liverpool have already signed forwards Danny Ings and Roberto Firmino this summer, while a £32.5m deal for Christian Benteke is expected to go through.

SKYSPORTS