Liverpool news: Mino Raiola launches another attack on Jurgen Klopp after Mario Balotelli departure

Balotelli’s nightmare two-year stay at Anfield ended last week when he joined Nice

Mark Critchley
Tuesday 06 September 2016 13:08 BST
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Raiola has accused Klopp of a lack of 'respect'
Raiola has accused Klopp of a lack of 'respect' (Getty)

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Mario Balotelli’s agent Mino Raiola has launched yet another attack on Jürgen Klopp following the departure of his client from Liverpool.

The 49-year-old has accused Klopp of a lack of “respect”, days after branding him “a piece of shit” for his treatment of Balotelli.

Balotelli’s two-year stay at Anfield, which brought just four goals in 28 appearances, came to an end last week when he joined Nice on a free transfer.

After returning from an unsuccessful loan spell at Milan, the Italian striker trained with Liverpool’s reserves during the summer and was left out of the club’s pre-season friendlies.

Raiola has now claimed that Balotelli requested playing time during the summer in order to build up his fitness, only for Klopp to turn him down.

“At the end of the day, he was a player of Liverpool and you need to treat him with respect. And he (Klopp) didn’t do that,” he said.

“Mario asked several times to have a friendly match. You can train all you want but, at the end of the day, you need 90 minutes, you need a friendly. He never considered him for 60 days.

“I’m not judging him as a trainer - I don’t like him as a trainer at all - but you have to let him play.”

Raiola, who also brokered the record-breaking transfer of Paul Pogba to Manchester United this summer, is known for his outspoken nature and controversial comments.

However, despite his critcisms of Klopp, he is open to negotiating with Liverpool again.

“If Klopp wants a player that I represent and he wants to talk to me, good,” he added.

“If he doesn’t want to talk to me then I can say to my player: ‘he doesn’t want to talk to me, you can choose another agent or go with a lawyer’.

“I will never be standing in the middle of the interest of my player but it doesn’t mean I have to shut up when I see things are not being done in a good way.”

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