UK Back Pages: Mario Balotelli on His Final Chance, Warns Brendan Rodgers

Our look at the back pages on Sunday morning is focused on Mario Balotelli, with Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers speaking frankly about the Italian striker.

Balotelli has been a disappointment since his arrival at Anfield in the summer, but the team as a whole has also dipped sharply from last season's heights.

Rodgers is quoted by several papers on Balotelli, and the headlines make dramatic reading:

In the Daily Mail, the line is simply "Final Chance":

"

Mail on Sunday back page: Final Chance #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/HcfrzL1Xht

— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) December 6, 2014"

The Sunday People, meanwhile, take it a step further, suggesting on their front page that Rodgers admitted it was a mistake to sign him:

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Sunday People front page: Cheryl & Mel B at war #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/pjMWbgfREC

— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) December 6, 2014"

Whether that's precisely what was said remains to be seen, although you can certainly get a flavour of the story from the quotes that the Daily Mirror's Simon Mullock obtained from Rodgers:

"

As as a club we felt that buying Mario was the solution at the time.

In the summer, we had Rickie Lambert. Fabio Borini looked 100 per cent that he was leaving, and obviously Daniel Sturridge has shown in his career so far that he gets injuries.

To go into the season with no-one else would have been very difficult for us.

It would have been unfair to leave Rickie Lambert, as a 32-year-old, as the only other striker that we had.

I felt it was a risk we needed to take with Mario because, as a group, we couldn’t afford not to a that time.

It was obviously late on and we needed to have someone in.

It’s something that we can’t regret now. I made it clear at the beginning it was a calculated risk - and that is why he probably cost the money he did.

"

Their back page leads on Chelsea's defeat, Sergio Aguero's injury blow for Manchester City and a reported wine and bridge-building exercise between Louis van Gaal and Ronald Koeman:

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And finally, the back page of tomorrow's Sunday Mirror, today. It's like looking into the future pic.twitter.com/jcuiisKGF2

— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) December 6, 2014"

Chelsea and Manchester City's mixed fortunes on Saturday are popular on the back pages, of course, as highlighted by the Independent on Sunday and the Mail on Sunday's sport section: 

"

Independent on Sunday Sport: Beaten Mourinho blames the ballboys #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/U0ABZc4PtE

— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) December 6, 2014"

"

Mail on Sunday Sport: Battered #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/YTqcAnTMwN

— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) December 6, 2014"

And finally, the Sunday Telegraph does the most poignant job of dealing with Chelsea's defeat. After debate raged as to whether the team could match Arsenal's Invincibles of the 2003/04 season, the paper went simply with "Vincible" for its headline:

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Sunday Telegraph front page Vincible #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/zRiHrt9UXv

— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) December 6, 2014"

[Twitter]