Thursday, 25th September, 2014



Brendan Rodgers has refused to compare Mario Balotelli to Luis Suarez, but stated his hope that the Italian can be just as influential for Liverpool as Suarez was.

Suarez powered Liverpool to within a whisker of the Premier League title last term, top scoring in the league and being voted the PFA and FWA Player of the Year.



However, Liverpool sold Suarez to Barcelona earlier this summer and in an effort to replace the 31 Premier League goals the Uruguayan scored, signed Balotelli from AC Milan for £16m.

But Rodgers does not want comparisons to be made between the pair.

 


"We shall see [if Balotelli can replace Suarez]!" Rodgers told a press conference today.

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"He's a talent and we'll see over time if Mario can consistently produce the performances.

"It's a totally different comparison; you can't compare the two.

"Luis Suarez was brilliant in my time here, but now he's gone.

"Mario's a different type of player and let's hope he becomes a really big player for us", Rodgers concluded.

Balotelli has so far made four appearances for Liverpool since his arrival from AC Milan, scoring once, as the Reds downed Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League.

Suarez meanwhile is banned from football until the end of October after biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in the World Cup.

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