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Italian great Andrea Pirlo insists Liverpool FC target Mario Balotelli’s bad boy image is out-dated.

Liverpool have agreed a £16m fee with AC Milan for the 24-year-old striker after the club made a dramatic U-turn on signing him.

Reds manager Brendan Rodgers had dismissed speculation linking the club with a move for the ex-Manchester City man earlier this summer.

But Liverpool’s drawn out search for a new forward has led them to Balotelli who is now closing in on a move to Anfield.

The Italian hitman has a chequered past littered with on and off-field incidents and he has struggle to settle at one club.

But Pirlo, a team-mate of his with the national side, says he has seen a different side to Balotelli and believes he has grown up in recent years.

“Mario has matured since he has been back in Italy,” Pirlo said.

“He will be the first to admit when he was younger he made some mistakes - but he is not that player anymore.

“Anybody who still talks about him in that way is living in the past.”

And Pirlo believes Balotelli has the potential to flourish into one of Europe’s best strikers.

“I have always said that in the right environment he has the potential to be one of the best strikers in Europe.

“He needs to be given space.”

Pirlo added: “The media do not need to write a story every time he goes to the shops.

“The time has come to write only about what he does on the field.”