“Brendan Rodgers was speaking to the lads”: Former Red on incident involving Balotelli | OneFootball

Liverpool signed Mario Balotelli from AC Milan for a transfer fee of €20 million back in the summer of 2014.

The move did not work out for Balotelli. The striker only scored four goals in 28 appearances for the Reds. Balotelli departed the club on a permanent basis back in 2016.

Former Red Jordan Williams was recently asked to give his opinion on Balotelli.

Williams said that the striker was “an absolute top guy”. However, Williams did reveal that Balotelli was not always on his best behaviour during training.

“I’ve got plenty [of stories about Balotelli] but there’s only a couple which I can actually say!” Williams told the Liverpool Echo. “He was an absolute top guy. Some people got the wrong perception of him.

“I’ve seen stories about him scoring own goals in training and that is probably true. I’ve seen it once.

“I just remember one incident, we were in the changing rooms and Brendan Rodgers [Liverpool’s manager at the time] was speaking to the lads.

“The ones on the bench were behind him and I just remember this opened tangerine and him throwing little pieces towards my face.

“A tangerine just slapped me around the face and I’m thinking, “Who was that?!” You can’t laugh or anything because the manager is speaking and I remember looking up and seeing Balotelli round the corner, by the toilets, just laughing his head off.

“This guy, I couldn’t believe he was throwing tangerines at my face while the manager was speaking. Rodgers couldn’t see me behind him and I was trying to hold my laugh in, it was horrible.

“He was a funny guy. Some of the stuff he did in training, I wouldn’t dream to do but I can only speak well of him.”

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ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT

There is no denying that Balotelli is a player that possesses talent. The forward has scored 14 goals in 36 appearances for Italy.

However, Williams’ story proves that Balotelli did not apply himself during his time at Anfield.

Balotelli really struggled at Liverpool. As we have stated, he only scored four goals for the club.

Therefore, it would have made sense for Balotelli to take training more seriously instead of distracting his teammates.

Balotelli is 30 years of age. Therefore, he is at the backend of his career.