Liverpool desperate to sell striker
Sampdoria’s manager has admitted that the club are unlikely to sign Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli due to having a low budget this summer.
The Serie A side have been monitoring a number of forwards over the past season but the club’s hierarchy has not given new manager Walter Zenga much money to spend in this transfer window.
Zenga’s aim for the new campaign is to finish in the top eight of the top tier in Italian football and has already agreed deals for four players this summer.
But the Italian giants are still looking for a couple of forward recruits, with veteran goal-scorer Samuel Eto’o set to leave the club.
Former striker Giampaolo Pazzini snubbed Sampdoria this summer, with him going to Hellas Verona instead, and Zenga has expressed his frustration in not being able to sign free agent Antonio Cassano or Reds flop Balotelli because of money issues.
Out of Price-Range
Zenga made it clear that he is frustrated about not having much budget to an Italian radio station, he said: “They [Cassano and Balotelli] are players of extraordinary talent, but no.
“Giampaolo Pazzini? Who wouldn’t like to train a player like that? But there are things the common fan is unaware of.
“We have already made three or four buuys. There’s [Edgar] Barreto, [Niklas] Moisander, [Federico] Bonazzolo and [Mattia] Cassani.
“We got Cassani to plug the gap after Lorenzo De Silvestri’s injury.
“The club acted quickly on the transfer market and we are building a good squad.
“We’ll see what else happens, the market is still open until September.” he added.
As Sampdoria have pulled out of the deal, it means Turkish side Trabzonspor are the only club interested in signing Balotelli, who has scored just four goals while playing under Brendan Rodgers last campaign after his £16million move from AC Milan.
By Drew Darbyshire (@DarbySports)
