Brendan Rodgers has finally decided Mario Balotelli doesn’t fit at Liverpool and wants “the new Sergio Aguero” to replace him. That’s according to Daily Mirror reporter Bill Cooper, who explains what the “new Aguero” will cost Liverpool:

“The Kop boss will have to fork out £12 million and fight off interest from Euro giants Real Madrid and Inter Milan to land Villarreal hitman Luciano Vietto.”

Cooper also states Rodgers’ belief that 21-year-old Vietto can add the goals that would return Liverpool to a top-four place and participation in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

That remains the priority for the Reds this season and Rodgers is now ready to firm up his interest in a long-term target to make it happen. Liverpool’s interest in Vietto goes back at least two years.

In September 2012, Talk Sport reporter Lee Roden detailed that interest. Roden also described the role current Atletico Madrid gaffer Diego Simeone played in Vietto‘s rise to prominence: “Simeone, who was Racing’s coach in 2011, was stunned by the youngster’s abilities in training and immediately went to inform his technical staff of his decision to promote him to the first team.”

This season Vietto has been in inspired form for Villarreal. He’s netted 10 goals in La Liga and UEFA Europa League action, along with providing four assists, per WhoScored.com.

That’s evidence of the kind of versatility and creativity Rodgers values in his strikers. It’s the dual-threat Luis Suarez provided so often last season, a threat Liverpool have sorely missed this term.

Since selling Suarez to Barcelona in the summer and then losing Daniel Sturridge to injury, Rodgers has found solutions to his team’s woes in front of goal hard to come by.

New signings Balotelli and Rickie Lambert have both floundered. The former has been particularly disappointing.

There have been the customary question marks over Balotelli‘s temperament. But perhaps just as important, there have also been nagging doubts about his suitability for the type of game Rodgers wants to play.

Prior to Christmas, Mail Online reporter Ian Ladyman detailed Rodgers’ belief that Balotelli‘s lack of technical guile didn’t suit Liverpool. That makes sense considering the Italy international is a very individualist striker, often preferring to rely on his awesome physical strength to bully a defence into submission.

Balotelli also rarely varies his movement or engages in the type of combination passing Rodgers preaches. That disparity recently encouraged B/R’s Ryan Bailey and Janusz Michallik to speculate that Balotelli could be headed for the exit during the January window:

It’s that type of combination game that has encouraged the Anfield chief to move winger Raheem Sterling through the middle as the focal point of his attack. Rodgers has surrounded the lightning-fast Sterling with creative-minded advanced playmakers such as Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho.

Their mercurial flair and Sterling’s pace have brought the verve back to Liverpool’s attacking play. The Reds are unbeaten in their last three league games, scoring seven goals in the process.

As a quick-witted and fleet-footed roaming forward, Vietto is certainly a better fit for the game Rodgers wants his team to play than the bullish Balotelli.

The search for alternatives to the latter had seen Liverpool strongly linked with West Bromwich Albion’s prolific forward Saido Berahino. However, the Baggies recently took the unusual step of firmly denying any proposed deal with the Reds, via the club’s official Twitter feed:

Snaring Vietto would earn the Merseyside club an exciting young talent who would form a potent combination with Sterling and eventually Sturridge. That trio would give Liverpool the pace and fluidity in attack that made them so dangerous last season.

from Bleacher Report – Front Page http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2315351-liverpool-transfer-news-new-sergio-aguero-luciano-vietto-eyed-in-new-rumours
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