Serie A newcomer FC Crotone offers the team captain position to Liverpool flop Mario Balotelli if he decides to join them this summer as the Italian striker comes back to England from a one-season loan with AC Milan.
Even though he is not included in the Italian national team lineup that will compete in the month-long UEFA Euro 2016 competitions this June and July, the 25-year-old forward "still has an opportunity to claim a big role in his home country next season" if he accepts I Pitagorici's captaincy offer in the offseason, Caught Offside indicated.
No less than Crotone team president Raffaele Vrenna said that he is willing to make Balotelli the club's skipper as Squali moves up in the Italian top flight league for the first time in its 106-year history. However, he admitted that wage negotiations "could be a hindrance" to the Palermo, Italy native's signing.
"If he accepts to join us, I'll give him the captain's armband," said Vrenna. "The problem is Liverpool's salary."
Balotelli was acquired by the Reds from Milan in the summer of 2014 for a transfer fee of £16 million, with the aim of replacing then Barcelona-bound striker Luis Suárez. He failed miserably to stamp a mark at the Anfield during the 2014-2015 season, scoring only one goal in the 16 games he appeared in.
He was then sent on loan back to Milan during the following season, where he was again a lost man, netting a lone goal in 20 games in the Italian domestic competitions.
Meanwhile, ESPN reported that Vrenna "urged" Balotelli to join his team next season "to get his career back on track".
"I was asked recently about a player who needs to get back to his best and I believe that we could get Balotelli back to his best," Vrenna told ESPN. "He has not yet shown his full value and he's a heritage of Italian football."
"We would even be willing to give him the captain's armband, and of course he would also score 25 goals," the club president added.
Balotelli has 12 months left in his contract with the English Premier League squad, but the Reds are rumored to be "not keen" on keeping him to their side this summer. Speculations abound that Liverpool is currently searching for a buyer that would risk for Balotelli's services and Crotone is said to be one of them.