Brendan Rodgers has received a good deal of criticism for his decision to sign Mario Balotelli from AC Milan in the summer, but some of the comments strike me as a little bit unfair.
After all, Balotelli was never brought into replace Luis Suarez. There are very few footballers in the world who could have done that (though I’d argue that Liverpool target Alexis Sanchez may have been up for the job). He was brought in to provide support for Daniel Sturridge.
How was Rodgers supposed to know that Sturridge would spend most of the first half of the season injured? He’s found himself in a tough situation.
However you may feel, I’m sure you’ll agree that Liverpool need to sign another centre-forward this January. The options they’ve got thus far just aren’t sufficient.
This brings me to The Metro‘s claim that Liverpool are closing in on a mammoth deal to sign West Brom’s much lauded young striker, Saido Berahino. After a fantastic start to the season, the English startlet has slowed down in recent times, but it’s clear enough that he’s the real deal.
He’s got 8 goals in 21 games thus far this year and he’s shown on multiple occasions that he’s got blistering pace, excellent technique for a young player and some real nous. With time he’ll grow more and more effective in the final third, but it’s not unreasonable to believe that West Brom have a Raheem Sterling level talent here.
With that in mind, perhaps Liverpool is the best place for this talent to be nurtured? Who better than Brendan Rodgers to make sure that Berahino comes good?
Unfortunately for The Reds, Saido isn’t going to come cheap. The aforementioned source claims that Liverpool may need to spend as much as £23.5m in order to close the deal. After a summer of heavy spending, Rodgers may not have that much left in his coffers.
Still, we live in hope. If The Reds can drag this deal across the line, they may well be able to drag themselves back into contention.
What’s your take? Is Saido Berahino the perfect choice for Liverpool?
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Waist of money