Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has spoken of his first reaction to Liverpool signing Mario Balotelli.

Writing in his 2016 book My Story , he recalled his conversation with former manager Brendan Rodgers.

He said: "In my last season, Brendan Rodgers came to me at Melwood one day in mid-August. We had a chat on the training pitch. He said, 'You know we've missed out on a couple of signings. I'm basically left with no option but to have a bit of a gamble.'

"Brendan paused before he spoke again: 'The gamble is Mario Balotelli.' My instant reaction was, 'Uh-oh.'

"I'd never met Balotelli but I'd heard all the stories about the indoor fireworks and Jose Mourinho describing him as an 'unmanageable' player. I could see that, in the right mood, he was a quality footballer but the rest of his career seemed like a spectacular waste of talent. That was my opinion of Balotelli."