Besiktas JK head coach Senol Gunes recently shut down the rumors linking the Turkish Süper Lig club to an impending transfer deal with Liverpool for out-of-place striker Mario Balotelli, saying that the Italian goalscorer is "not in my plans".
The 25-year-old forward, who is coming off a one-season loan spell with his former club AC Milan last term, is rumored to be a surplus to Reds manager Jorgen Klopp as well next season at the Anfield. He was linked to several teams as soon as the summer transfer window opened, including a multi-million dollar move to China in the country's Chinese Super League, but all speculations had been fruitless so far.
Turkish top flight champions Besiktas was one of the teams in the rumors especially after team president Fikret Orman had said some positive things about Balotelli during a recent interview. However, the 64-year-old Gunes, who had immediately led the Black Eagles to the Süper Lig title last season since joining the team in June of last year, is reportedly not keen on acquiring the 6-foot-3, Palermo, Italy native.
"There were also rumors about Aleksandar Kolarov but he wasn't in my plans," Gunes said in an interview last Saturday, as per Four Four Two. "Balotelli isn't in my plans either. I don't have a favorable view of Mario Balotelli. I have never expressed a positive insight on him."
Balotelli had been struggling in the past two season after having an impressive two-year stint with Milan in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 where he scored 30 goals in 54 appearances during the said period.
He was acquired by Liverpool in the summer of 2014 for a fee of £16 million as a planned replacement for then Barcelona-bound Uruguayan sensation Luis Suárez, but he never delivered, netting a single goal 16 games for former head coach Brendan Rodgers.
His awful showing prompted the Reds to loan him back to I Rossoneri the season after in hopes of finding his old form, but he continued to disappoint, scoring only one goal again during the entire 2015-2016 season in the Serie A.
SkySports reported that Besiktas president Orman told reporters that the team wants Balotelli and that the Italy international wants them as well, which instigated a lot of rumors about an impending deal.
"Mario Balotelli is the type of footballer that our fans can associate themselves with," said Orman. "To be fair, if he wasn't deemed as a trouble-maker, he wouldn't be rumored to be joining us."
"In short, we want Mario Balotelli and he wants us too," the club executive added.