The worst thing about Balotelli is his less than impressive disciplinary record. Almost every time he enters the fray you feel there is a genuine chance he could get sent-off, and although there does seem to be a promising new maturity to his game, that short fuse will remain for the rest of his career. You can't change players like that; just look at Luis Suarez. The fact that Rodgers has reportedly told Balotelli that he must behave if he wants to sign for Liverpool sums up how unpredictable he can be. In fairness, it shows what a huge talent he is that people are so willing to take the risk with him. He picked up four red cards during his time at City, including a terrible challenge on Arsenal's Bacary Sagna that threatened to derail their Premier League title challenge in 2011/12. In January 2012, he viciously stamped on Tottenham's Scott Parker, and although he wasn't penalised at the time, he received a four-match ban afterwards. In December of the same year he was fined two weeks wages by City, as punishment for his poor disciplinary record in general. He took the club to a Premier League tribunal over the decision, but eventually accepted his punishment. Although his disciplinary record has been slightly better during two spells in Serie A, he has often been involved in contentious moments, including getting Juventus' Felipe Melo sent-off after dramatically feigning injury during Inter's 2-1 loss to their bitter rivals in 2009. This caused a huge dispute on the pitch between players from both teams. As mentioned previously, there is absolutely no doubt about Balotelli's talent- he could be a superstar at Liverpool- but if he doesn't improve his ways in terms of discipline he may well have a negative effect on the Reds' assault on both the Premier League and Champions League in 2014/15 and beyond. Let us know your thoughts on Liverpool signing Mario Balotelli in the comments section below.
