Mario Balotelli Slammed by Antonio Conte, Liverpool Star's Italy Future in Doubt

Mario Balotelli is a lost cause to the Italian national team after Azzurri manager Antonio Conte insisted he hasn't got time to shepherd the striker into realising his potential.

In his current state, it would seem the Liverpool striker is out of the international picture, having failed to convince Conte he's deserving of a place in the squad, per Metro's Massimo Marioni:

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I’m trying to save a product that is going extinct, is that clear? Balotelli? With all the problems we have, why are we still talking about him? I’m not so arrogant as to claim that I’m different from the great coaches, but the past tells us that they failed to change Balotelli. It’ll be up to the player, but I don’t have much time and I need certain things.

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Having been dropped in the wake of Italy's World Cup disappointment, Balotelli was recently recalled to the national team but had to pull out after picking up a hamstring injury in training.

The 24-year-old moved back to the Premier League this past summer but has failed to reign as triumphantly on Merseyside as he did in Manchester, and he is yet to score in the league this season.

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

It doesn't help Balotelli's case that several others in the Italy squad are showing stronger candidacy to start up front. In the likes of Ciro Immobile, Graziano Pelle, Mattia Destro and Simone Zaza, there are other encouraging prospects coming into the setup.

David Lynch of the Manchester Evening News has questioned the impact of Liverpool's summer signings, Balotelli being one of them. He also hinted Liverpool may have relied more than some thought on Luis Suarez:

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@plmrgn It's just been as simple as a failure of personnel in my eyes. Balotelli, Lovren needed to work in Sturridge absence. Not even close

— David Lynch (@DavidLynchMEN) November 18, 2014"

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@plmrgn It's looking obvious now who elevated them. Literally all the things people said about one-man team were true. Mad.

— David Lynch (@DavidLynchMEN) November 19, 2014"

Conte's frustrations may be caused as much by Balotelli's mental attributes as they are by a lack of on-pitch production, though. Granted, his form of late has been arguably the weakest of his career but motivation and attitude concerns have always been his main worry.

Since arriving at Anfield, Balotelli has been relatively well-behaved by his own standards. He was recently subject to a police investigation for allegedly threatening a woman who took a picture of his car, but the Mirror's Laura Connor reported it was dropped last month.

Nevertheless, Conte sees the positives of Balotelli's omission to outweigh the negatives. The former Juventus mastermind is willing to sacrifice his ability for the good of what he sees might be a brighter Azzurri future.

Should Balotelli rediscover his scoring touch and go on to achieve on Merseyside what the Kop have been hoping he might, Conte will be forced to revise his tack.

However, for now, it would seem the temperamental talent remains out of his manager's view, leaving Brendan Rodgers to assume the role of his sole caretaker.