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Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has accepted there is no way out of Liverpool for Mario Balotelli.

Rodgers wants to ditch the controversial Italian striker, just three months after he offered Balotelli the chance to resurrect his career in the Premier League.

Rodgers has admitted that buying Balotelli for £16million from AC Milan was a gamble that has backfired spectacularly, with the former Manchester City striker scoring just twice all season.

But Sunday Mirror Sport understands that it’s a risk Rodgers must persevere with until the end of the season, as Liverpool have already given up on offloading the 24-year-old in the January transfer window.

“As as a club we felt that buying Mario was the solution at the time,” said Rodgers.

“In the summer, we had Rickie Lambert. Fabio Borini looked 100 per cent that he was leaving, and obviously Daniel Sturridge has shown in his career so far that he gets injuries.

“To go into the season with no-one else would have been very difficult for us.

(Image: Chris Neill)

“It would have been unfair to leave Rickie Lambert, as a 32-year-old, as the only other striker that we had.

“I felt it was a risk we needed to take with Mario because, as a group, we couldn’t afford not to a that time.

“It was obviously late on and we needed to have someone in.

“It’s something that we can’t regret now. I made it clear at the beginning it was a calculated risk - and that is why he probably cost the money he did.”

Balotelli, who is currently sidelined by a mystery groin strain, is yet to re-open his goalscoring account in the Premier League.

The Italian vowed to clean up his behaviour off the pitch when he arrived from Inter.

But his attitude has shown little improvement since he was shown the door by City in January 2013.

And Balotelli has now been hit with an FA charge after submitting a post to his Instagram account that is alleged to contain anti-Semitic and racist slurs.

See pictures from Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Sunderland: