Liverpool signed Italy striker Mario Balotelli from AC Milan on Monday for a reported 16 million pounds ($26.5 million), taking a calculated gamble on a headline-grabbing player known as much for his controversies as his goals.
Nineteen months after ending a 2½-year spell with Manchester City to play for his boyhood club, Balotelli will return to the English Premier League as a replacement for Luis Suarez — another of world football’s talented but disruptive stars.
“I’m happy to be back because I left England and it was a mistake,” Balotelli said in a Liverpool statement.
“I wanted to go to Italy but I realized it was a mistake.”Balotelli, who has signed what Liverpool said is a “long-term deal,” has already trained at his new club and will attend the team’s Premier League game against City at Etihad Stadium later Monday. He wasn’t registered in time to play.
Liverpool has been looking to strengthen its strikeforce after selling Suarez to Barcelona for $130 million but left it to the last week of the transfer window to secure one of the summer’s most high-profile and intriguing signings. [AP]
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