Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero has admitted he would like to sign Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli. 

He believes the Italian could thrive away from the limelight of Europe’s elite, as reported by GazzettaTV (h/t David Amoyal, writer on behalf of Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio): “I would bring in Balotelli, he would do well here since there isn’t the pressure of a big club. If a player has tranquillity he can score more easily.”

Balotelli is a player who has been given numerous chances at the world’s best clubs. Upon leaving Inter Milan in 2010, he has struggled through spells with Manchester City, AC Milan and now Liverpool. Few doubt his potential—he is capable of scoring outrageous goals—nor his physical abilities. His attitude and application, however, remain lacking.

His £16 million summer move to Liverpool was touted as a bargain by many, but it soon became clear Balotelli‘s contribution would be limited.

He struggled to find the net in an early run of games, eventually leading manager Brendan Rodgers to switch to a 3-4-2-1 formation which rendered Balotelli‘s lack of movement obsolete.

With two creative playmakers operating just behind the lone striker, Rodgers has regularly opted for the tricky pace and movement of Raheem Sterling in the central role. Balotelli has failed to score more than once in any competition this season, totalling just three strikes, per WhoScored.com. He currently has seven yellow cards to his name, hasn’t played since Mar. 22 or completed 90 minutes since Nov. 1.

B/R UK highlighted a social media gaffe from Balotelli, who tweeted during Manchester United’s 4-2 destruction of Manchester City:

BT Sport pundit Robbie Savage recently branded the player “pathetic” for missing Liverpool’s FA Cup quarter-final replay with Blackburn Rovers, as reported by Kieran Gill of the MailOnline: “Pathetic isn’t it? You’re going to miss an FA Cup quarter-final? I don’t know how unwell he is, but to miss an FA Cup quarter-final when you’re feeling a bit ill? Nonsense. I would have to be really, really ill to miss that game.”

Balotelli responded in typically cheeky fashion:

Ferrero snapped up Samuel Eto’o from Everton in January. “Everyone wanted Eto’o, but they only talked about it,” he said, per Amoyal. “I put my money where my mouth is and I got him.”

While many may be interested in having a crack at finding Balotelli‘s best form, offering to stump up significant cash for his services is a different story. Ferrero suggests he isn’t one to shy away from a challenge if the player is a good fit for head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic.

At 24 years old, Balotelli would be smart to consider Sampdoria. He needs to get back to scoring goals and working on somehow finding the potential we saw as a youngster. His career is being wasted on the bench, but he is the one to blame. 

Sampdoria are fighting for a Europa League place this season, so Balotelli would likely need to make the step away from Champions League football if he’s to move on. At this point, this is the best he can ask for.

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