Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp were unimpressed with their former club’s striker…
Former Liverpool stars Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp have ripped into ‘panic buy’ Mario Balotelli, and both expressed their belief that the striker will have left the club by the start of next season.
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Reports in the Daily Mail quote the iconic duo, who ran the rule over Balotelli after he was hauled off after just 45 minutes of Liverpool’s 3-0 Champions League defeat against Real Madrid.
Balotelli signed for Liverpool for £16m in the summer but Jamie Carragher insists it must have been a panic buy from Brendan Rodgers, while Redknapp added that there was clearly a reason he was ‘half price’.
The Italian was hauled off at half-time, and was seen swapping shirts with Pepe as the two teams left the field at the break. After the match, Carragher also claimed he would be surprised to see Balotelli at Anfield next season, while Redknapp blamed Rodgers for buying him.
“I can’t change the way I feel about Balotelli, and that is nothing to do with what he’s done in a Liverpool shirt,” Carragher said. “It’s what he’s done at Manchester City and AC Milan. Do I think he’s going to be here long-term? No, I’d be surprised to see him here next season if I’m being honest.”
Jamie Redknapp followed up Carragher’s comments with his own assessment – instead blaming Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers for bringing Balotelli to the club in the first place.
“I don’t blame Mario Balotelli, I blame Brendan Rodgers for bringing him here. How he thought he could turn around a player who Mourinho, Mancini and Prandelli have all washed their hands of. There’s a reason when you go to the supermarket and something is half price.
“Why on earth they went for him I’ll never know. They should’ve just left him alone. The fact that they went and got him, it just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
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