Liverpool appear set to start their forensic rebuilding of their front line with the news they could be about to bid for Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette—with Mario Balotelli shown the Anfield door.

David Maddock of the Mirror says Brendan Rodgers is considering the French attacker who has been in prolific form during the current campaign.

Maddock writes the 23-year-old is valued at £15 million by his club, and Liverpool could push Balotelli and Fabio Borini out of the club to make way for new goalscorers in their crumbling squad.

The Anfield team believe they can still sell Borini for around the £14 million mark to Sunderland, per Maddock, and will replace him like-for-like with Lacazette.

The striker has been on fire in Ligue 1 in recent months, hitting 15 goals in just 18 appearances, per WhoScored.com.

If he continues this form after a move to Liverpool, Rodgers may finally have a player to supplement the goals of Daniel Sturridge—who has missed most of the campaign with repeated injuries. 

Balotelli has been a huge flop on Merseyside in his second attempt at life in the Premier League. The Italian had been linked with a move back to Inter Milan, but the San Siro club’s vice president Javier Zanetti has played down the claims in a comment to Sky Italia, per The Herald: “A Balotelli return? We all know Mario is a great player but I think it’s difficult because he only just arrived at Liverpool. In any case, after our game against Lazio (Dec. 21) we will hold meetings to see what we can do and what is needed in terms of the (transfer) market.”

However, Rodgers has not given up on his summer capture and appears to want the Italy international to stay with his club, at least for now.

Rodgers was quoted by Liverpool Echo reporter Phil Kirkbride—saying he will work hard to get the best out of Balotelli in the immediate future:

 

But Liverpool legend John Aldridge disagrees with Rodgers and says Balotelli should be sold at the first possible opportunity.

The former striker has heavily criticised Balotelli‘s contribution since arriving at Anfield and believes both he and Borini should be sold to fund the purchase of two additional forwards, speaking in his column for the Sunday World:

Get rid of Mario Balotelli (if anyone will have him) and get rid of Fabio Borini. It is pretty clear neither are going to give Liverpool what they want in terms of goals, so get penalty box operators in who can save this season for Liverpool.

What none of us doubt is something has to change to halt the slide at Liverpool and Rodgers knows more than ever before that he has to find a solution very quickly.

Aldridge’s words are very strong but fully represent the feelings of most Reds on Merseyside. Last season was a happy time for the fanbase as the club finally put together a credible title challenge—exploding Rodgers’ stock across Europe as one of the continent’s top young coaches.

But a team devoid of Luis Suarez appears to be a team short on heart and soul, and the identity of Rodgers’ team has been compromised by the arrivals of the likes of Balotelli.

The Italian can be a brilliant operator when on top form, but as was witnessed at Manchester City, he is all too often caught strolling around the pitch in a world of his own.

Liverpool do need to offload Balotelli and Borini, but after some depressing performances, the club may find it is harder to sell than they hoped.

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