Liverpool Transfer News: Latest on Mario Balotelli, Neto Rumours

Liverpool reportedly offered Mario Balotelli to Italian champions Juventus, but Bianconeri manager Massimiliano Allegri immediately threw cold water on the rumours on Saturday.

According to Tuttosport (h/t Metro's Vaishali Bhardwaj), agent Mino Raiola approached the Old Lady with a six-month loan offer for Balotelli, and while Allegri acknowledged he's always looking for good players, he told reporters the Italy international needs to produce for the Reds first:

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I worked with him and he had a good season with me. Mario has built a 'persona' outside of football that is getting more attention than what he does on the pitch.

He has excellent qualities, but he has to show them off. He can only help himself by making sacrifices, otherwise he’ll lose his way.

Would I like to have Balotelli in my team again? I always like to have talented players, but he needs to get back to being important for Liverpool.

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Cristina Guerri of Tuttomercatoweb.com provided more details (h/t Sport Witness), explaining Liverpool offered Juventus a loan deal with an option to make the move permanent in the summer for £14 million.

Such a return would be reasonable for a talented but troubled star who looks like an odd fit at Anfield. Janusz Michallik told Bleacher Report he thinks it's time to cash in on Super Mario while his value is still high:

A move to Juventus seems unlikely, however. The 24-year-old is a very unpopular figure with the Bianconeri fans, leading to a series of incidents in the past. As someone who has played for both Milan clubs in the past, he's about as close to public enemy No. 1 as you can get.

That said, Juventus' squad is filled with many of the veteran players who have had a positive influence on Balotelli during international duty, and if there's one place where he could turn his career around, it might be Turin.

BeIN Sports' Tancredi Palmeri thinks a loan is unlikely to happen, although he warned fans not to take anything for granted:

As of right now, Liverpool would have trouble finding any club willing to pay £14 million for the controversial striker. But if he could make a positive impact in Serie A, his value could rise to a solid level ahead of the summer transfer window.

The Reds also appear to be battling Juventus for the signature of Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto, who recently informed La Viola he won't be signing a new contract and intends to become a free agent at the end of the season.

According to the Daily Mirror's John Cross, Juventus have some form of verbal agreement with the 25-year-old, but the Reds could swoop in with a £2 million offer in January:

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Brendan Rodgers will have to pay £2million to snatch Fiorentina keeper Norberto Neto in January.

Juventus believe they have a verbal agreement to sign the 25-year-old Brazilian on a free in the summer when his contract expires.

But Fiorentina may cut their losses and sell now.

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Juventus executive director Giuseppe Marotta has already told Sky Sport Italia his club won't be making a move for the talented stopper in January, via Football Italia:

This leaves the door open for Liverpool, who are desperate to land a stopper of their own to provide some competition for Simon Mignolet.

There are two major bumps in the road for the Reds, however: for starters, Fiorentina don't have a second stopper on the squad who is nearly as talented as Neto. A £2 million sum seems insufficient to give up six more months of high-level production at the position.

And then there's Neto's verbal agreement with the Bianconeri. If the Brazilian is keen on joining the Italian champions, he won't sign a new contract at Anfield in six months. No team is going to pay £2 million for a six-month rental.

Brendan Rodgers will have to figure out whether he can convince the athletic goalkeeper Liverpool should be the club for his future, but until he does, Juventus remain the favourites for his signature.

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