Brendan Rodgers says that whether Mario Balotelli stays at Liverpool is up to the Italian striker himself, but claims he is working hard at the club's Melwood training ground.
Liverpool left Balotelli out of their pre-season tour squad and he has remained behind on Merseyside while his team-mates have played games in Thailand and Australia, while they have now arrived in Malaysia.
Balotelli has been linked with the exit door, but has so far stayed put at Liverpool, the club he joined from AC Milan for £16m last summer.
Rodgers, today at a press conference in Malaysia, was asked whether Balotelli has a future at Liverpool and whether he will still be at the club by the time the new Premier League campaign kicks off.
He said: "Mario's obviously not come on the tour, but he's been working hard and training well at Melwood.
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"I'm not sure [whether he will still be at Liverpool when the season starts]. That will be entirely up to Mario himself.
"He's working very hard at Melwood to get fit", Rodgers added.
Liverpool are on the brink of signing another striker in the form of Christian Benteke from Aston Villa for a fee of £32.5m after meeting his release clause.
The Belgian's arrival may push Balotelli further down the pecking order.
