• Premier League

'Balotelli was a panic buy for Liverpool'

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has said Mario Balotelli was "a panic buy" after the Italy international was substituted at half-time in the 3-0 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid at Anfield.

Balotelli moved to Merseyside from AC Milan in a £16 million summer deal but has so far scored just one goal, in the 2-1 Champions League win over Ludogorets.

After Liverpool found themselves three-down to Real at the interval on Wednesday night, manager Brendan Rodgers took the striker off and replaced him with Adam Lallana.

And Carragher, now a television pundit, said he believed the 24-year-old was unlikely to stay with last season's Premier League runners-up for long.

Mario Balotelli has found the net just once for Liverpool this season in a series of poor performances © Getty Images

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"I'd be surprised to see him here next season," he told Sky Sports. "It was just a panic [buy] - they needed someone and they left it too late.

"A lot of the players have come in and done a decent job here and there, but nobody's really done anything. They bring in Balotelli late on - it's obviously a panic."

Balotelli was embroiled in further controversy when he swapped shirts with Real Madrid defender Pepe at the interval, sparking an angry response from Rodgers.

Former Liverpool skipper Phil Thompson said: "What is in his mind to do that? He's having a difficult time as it is.

"I don't care whether you're playing for Liverpool or a second division club - you don't do things like that. It's disrespectful, absolutely dreadful from a Liverpool player.

"He is lucky to be wearing one, to be playing, the way he's been playing before. And he gives it away at half-time?"

Meanwhile, ex-Anfield midfielder Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports he did not understand why Balotelli had been signed in the first place.

"I blame Brendan Rodgers for bringing him here," he said. "How he thought he could turn around a player that [Jose] Mourinho, [Roberto] Mancini, [Cesare] Prandelli have all washed their hands of...

"There's a reason when you go to the supermarket that things are half-price. Why on earth they went for him I'll never know."

Graeme Souness, another former captain, said he believed bringing Balotelli to Anfield had been "a really brave decision given the quality of managers and the quality of clubs that have said 'Thanks but no thanks'."

Asked about the shirt-swapping incident, he said: "Don't get me started. Call me a dinosaur, but I expect so much more."

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