MARIO BALOTELLI is close to a return to Liverpool as AC Milan consider terminating his loan deal.
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| Mario Balotelli could be on his way back to Liverpool |
The Italian joined the Reds in the summer of 2014 for £16m but failed to impress and was sent back on a season-long loan to Milan.
On Saturday, the 25-year-old came on as a second-half substitute for Milan in a 2-2 draw with Empoli after missing the last few months through injury.
But according to reports in Italy, the Serie A side are ready to end the loan move early.
Italian website Calciomercato say Balotelli's representatives are pushing for a return to England with West Ham and West Brom among the clubs interested in taking the player before the end of the transfer window.
Earlier this month Brendan Rodgers, who was sacked as Liverpool boss in last October, admitted he was forced to sign Balotelli after they missed out on Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal.
He said: "We needed a player who could press at the top of the pitch; it wasn’t just a goalscorer we were after because Luis Suárez was giving us so much more than that.
"After a friendly against Milan I was asked the question and I felt Mario wasn’t someone who suited the profile of what we were after. But come the end of the summer when we were struggling to get in the type of player we wanted, the ownership thought this was perhaps a player I could develop.
"He’s a wonderful talent, there’s no doubt about that; you see him on the training ground every day – tall, strong, great touch. They were thinking this is a £50m player we could maybe get for £16m.
"When the owners are wanting you to go down that route and there’s no other option, you give it a go."
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