Mario Balotelli is more hassle than he is worth and does not have a long-term future at Liverpool, Jamie Redknapp has exclusively told talkSPORT.

Balotelli fired Liverpool to victory against Besiktas with a well-taken penalty on Thursday night but was heavily criticised by captain Steven Gerrard for defying Brendan Rodgers’ team orders and wrestling the ball from designated spot-kick taker Jordan Henderson.

Rodgers was keen to play down the incident after the game, but Redknapp reckons the Reds boss will be privately fuming at the ‘lack of respect’ shown by the 24-year-old and will be preparing to ditch the £15million signing, who has scored just four goals in all competitions since his arrival from AC Milan last summer.

Speaking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast, the former Anfield ace said: “The problem you have with Mario is I don’t think he has got a lot of respect for anybody.

“He has worked with some of the best managers in Prandelli, Mourinho, Mancini, everybody he has worked with has tried with this man but nobody seems to get to the bottom of it.

“The objective is to put the ball into the back of the net, thankfully that is what he did, but it is not nice to see players arguing like that on the field.

“He is an incredibly confident penalty taker and very good at it, but it is that lack of respect that he has.

“I don’t see long-term he will be at Anfield, I really don’t. He has scored a couple of goals in fairness, the goals against Tottenham and yesterday were important, but I am sure Brendan Rodgers is thinking he is more hassle than he is worth because he hasn’t produced the quality you would like and when you look at other players around him they don’t seem to enjoy his company on the field.

“It always seems to be about him, but it shouldn’t be. He is working at a great football club with lots of other good young players and I am sure they look around and wonder why he gets so much attention when he doesn’t deserve it.”