Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has explained that he simply could not get the best out of Mario Balotelli.

Rodgers signed Balotelli for Liverpool a couple of seasons ago for a fee of around £16million but the transfer arguably proved to be an unmitigated disaster and the Reds were happy enough to get rid of the Italian this summer on a free transfer to French club Nice.

Now Rodgers has gone on to speak regarding his relationship with Balotelli and has expressed his disappointment at the fact that the striker was unable to do his enormous talent justice at Liverpool.

Balotelli, who is starring for Nice, recently said his spell at Anfield was the 'biggest disappointment' of his career and a 'disaster', which Rodgers agreed with.

The Celtic boss told talkSPORT: "He was probably absolutely spot on to be fair!

"I just couldn't really connect with Mario. He was one that came in very late in the window for us. We had lost Luis [Suarez] and it was a gamble taken from a club perspective.

"It was one where, he's a big talent, and we thought, well, can he come in and develop - he's got all the tools.

"In all fairness, I just found it very difficult to connect with Mario. On the field, he tried his best. It certainly wasn't something that worked out as everyone have would liked."

Rodgers added: "He's probably now got a final chance over in France and hopefully he can work at the talent he has, because he is a huge talent."