According to reports from Mirror Football, Liverpool are planning to offload Mario Balotelli to the Chinese Super League; whilst Don Balon report that Diego Simeone will target Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic if he becomes Chelsea manager.
The £15million flop, who netted just once in the Premier League during his debut campaign at Anfield, is yet to find a goal in open play since returning to former club AC Milan on loan last summer. The San Siro outfit aren’t interested in re-signing the Italy international permanently and Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hasn’t even tracked his progress in Serie A, so a move back to Merseyside remains equally unlikely.
There is a lack of interest in Balotelli throughout the English and Italian top flights but according to Mirror Football, Liverpool are now looking to offload the 25-year-old to the Chinese Super League. Reds commercial officer Billy Hogan is currently in the Far East discussing potential sponsorship deals and a number of Chinese clubs have expressed an interest in signing the Anfield flop.
Liverpool hope they can recoup their original investment in Balotelli and also avoid paying the remainder of his contract, which could see them save as much as £25million.
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Meanwhile, Don Balon report that Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic is on Diego Simeone’s shortlist of potential recruits should he be appointed Chelsea manager at the end of the season. The Catalans signed the Croatian international in a €18million transfer from Sevilla in summer 2014 and he’s since become a key figure in their starting Xi, featuring prominently as they claimed a La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble last season.
But the goalscoring centre-mid is by no means indispensable. Barcelona signed a similar kind of player in Arda Turan at the start of the season and could swoop for Juventus star Paul Pogba in the coming transfer window, which would really put Rakitic’s status as a guaranteed starter in jeopardy.
According to Don Balon, Diego Simeone has tried to sign the 27-year-old for Atletico Madrid in the past and will look to seal a transfer once again if he takes the Stamford Bridge hot seat in the summer. The Argentine, who has lead Atletico to a Europa League title, a La Liga title and a Copa del Rey, is one of the leading contenders for the Chelsea job alongside Italian duo Antonio Conte and Massimo Allegri.