Nice interested in deal for Liverpool's Mario Balotelli - 7M sport

Nice interested in deal for Liverpool's Mario Balotelli



Posted Friday, August 26, 2016 by ESPN

Nice interested in deal for Liverpool's Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli has endured a nightmare of a time with Liverpool.

Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli is attracting interest from French side Nice, coach Lucien Favre confirmed on Thursday.

Balotelli was not at Liverpool's training ground, Melwood, on Thursday, according to a source, with the Liverpool Echo reporting that the 26-year-old is travelling to France for discussions with the Ligue 1 outfit.

However, the source made it known to ESPN FC that there is currently no agreement between to the two sides for the former Italy international.

And Favre has certain expectations of the 26-year-old.

"I don't know him personally, but if he runs and wants to help the youngsters, then why not?" the coach told a news conference. "If he doesn't want to run, then there's no way he'll come here."

Liverpool have been looking to offload Balotelli, who has one year left on his current contract, all summer after manager Jurgen Klopp said he would not be part of his plans going forward.

Nice received an injection of resources back in June after 80 percent of the club was bought out by Chinese and American investors.

The arrival of the investment was welcomed by club president Jean-Pierre Rivere, who retained his 20 percent share, and feels it could take the club to the next level.

"Thanks to Chinese and American investment, OGC Nice will scale new peaks and will continue to grow," Rivere said.

FC Sion president Christian Constantin recently said that his club were in discussions over a move for Balotelli.

"I can confirm that we are talking and negotiations are underway," Constantin told ticinonews.ch. "Obviously I cannot know whether it will have a positive conclusion or not."

But despite their public interest, a source close to the Swiss club told ESPN FC that they are yet to approach Liverpool about a potential deal and, as it stands, any move appears unlikely to happen.

Liverpool manager Klopp told a news conference on Thursday morning that there was "nothing to say" regarding the departure of Balotelli.

The Italian has endured a nightmare spell on Merseyside ever since his arrival in the summer of 2014. Then-manager Brendan Rodgers labelled the move as a "gamble" at the time.

He has only scored one Premier League goal for the Reds and last season was shipped out on loan to AC Milan.

Balotelli has since returned to Liverpool, but he did not feature in any of the side's nine friendlies this summer and stayed behind at Melwood while the rest of the squad travelled to the United States for their preseason tour.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have confirmed that youngster Sam Hart has joined League One side Port Vale on a season-long loan.



Attention: Third parties may advertise their products and/or services on our website.7M does not warrant the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of their contents.
Your dealings with such third parties are solely between you and such third parties and we shall not be liable in any way for any loss or damage of any sort incurred by you.