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When Sergio Aguero lashed home in the final seconds of the 2011-12 season and ran, twirling an entire city over his head along with him, Mario Balotelli was just picking himself up from the ground.

He eventually caught up with the Argentine hero – indeed, such is his speed across the ground, he was the second to greet him – but it was Aguero who took the headlines, and whose name was screamed with elongated vowels as the man who won the Premier League for Manchester City.

All Balotelli did was set up Aguero to score the winning goal, a lovely through ball while down on the floor having been impeded. But for him, there was no fanfare, no specially-printed t-shirts, no cry of Balotelliiiiiiii recorded forever.

In fact, memories of that season tend to be negative towards the Italian. It began in pre-season against LA Galaxy, trying to backheel past the goalkeeper when one-on-one, prompting Roberto Mancini so substitute him. He also got into a training ground scrap with Micah Richards in the January and was sent off twice – against Liverpool after just 17 minutes of coming on, and most crucially against Arsenal in the title run-in.

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But in that title-winning campaign, he also scored two past Manchester United in their 6-1 win at Old Trafford. He won – and then scored – the penalty in stoppage time at home to Spurs in January to keep distance from Manchester United. Against Sunderland, in the game before his Arsenal meltdown, he scored twice against Sunderland in a 3-3 draw.

And then, there was that assist – his only one for City that season.

This highlights two things. Firstly, how bad news always usurps good news with Balotelli, and how his impact can sometimes be skewered. But most importantly, it tells us a simple fact.

Mario Balotelli is a Premier League winner.

That was his fourth league championship at the age of just 21 having won three Serie A titles with Inter Milan. He had also been a part of the squad that won the Champions League in 2010, although he would remain on the bench throughout the final in Madrid.

He now looks set to join Liverpool with that medal haul, as well as 33 appearances for Italy including a Euro 2012 final appearance and match-winning performances in two major international tournaments against Germany and England.

It's an impressive career that has seen him successful in two of Europe's top leagues, as well as producing in the Champions League, European Championships and World Cup.

It leads to a surprising question and arguably puts him front of the queue: who is the highest-profile signing the Reds have ever made?

Such is the nature of the club throughout the decades, Liverpool rarely sign ready-made, global superstars. They invest in talent close to home or potential abroad.

But in Balotelli, they would bring in a player who has shown his ability at the highest level across different countries and is yet to enter his prime.

The term 'high-profile' is subjective, of course. There is no set formula to what makes a signing high-profile. Does achievements matter more than headlines written? Does international performances matter more than their age, and whether their best years are behind them?

When Joe Cole signed for the Reds in 2010, he was an England international with 56 caps who had won the Premier League with Chelsea twice – but he was edging towards 30 and had long sailed past his best.

Likewise, the Bosman signings of Markus Babbel and Jari Litmanen – 20 major trophies between them at Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich – were opportunistic, taking advantage of players seeking a new challenge in an exciting league. Fernando Morientes was also approaching 30 and, despite success with Monaco in Europe, also falls into this category.

Stan Collymore was high-profile with the Reds breaking the British record transfer fee in an £8.5m deal, but no move from a Frank Clark side is ever going to stir emotion; Nicolas Anelka had the pedigree after spells at Arsenal, Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain – with a slight bit of controversy to boot – but it was only on loan.

Even Luis Suarez came with World Cup goals - and notoriety - behind him, but from a league which is not considered amongst the top five in Europe.

(Image: Action Images / Paul Thomas)

Yet Balotelli would appear to tick the boxes these don't. He's still young but is also established; he grabs attention, offers outrageous skill on the pitch and is known worldwide. GQ even named him the second-best dressed male of 2012.

Recognition from men's style magazines never automatically translates to performances on the pitch, but it adds to the aura of Balotelli and the unshakable feeling that he's a player Liverpool cannot turn into a superstar because he's already regarded as one.

There are others who could vie for the title. By definition, spending £35m on Andy Carroll – at the time, comfortably in the top 10 world transfer fees of all time – was very high-profile. What followed is largely immaterial.

But still, he came with hardly a season of Premier League experience and only a Championship winners medal in his drawer. Peter Beardsley made a similar move – albeit for a far smaller fee – with much more top-flight experience, as well as appearances at World Cup 1986.

Kenny Dalglish comes closer. He had won the Scottish league four times – in an era when there was more than Celtic in it and had played 47 times for Scotland already, starring in the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Manchester United also expressed a strong interest before the Reds and Celtic agreed a record fee for a transfer between two British clubs.

Maybe it is Fernando Torres who comes closest. A teen prodigy at Atletico Madrid and hitting double figures in all five of his La Liga seasons, he joined the Reds aged 23 – just a year younger than Balotelli – with a big reputation. He also starred in Spain's World Cup 2006 campaign.

But his reputation was founded on his time with one club, while Balotelli has excited at all three. He, too, was a teen prodigy, and has shown his ability – albeit not at all times – at the two Milan giants and an emerging club like Manchester City.

There is also the personality of Balotelli – which some see as good and some see as bad – unlike the quiet Spaniard. Torres never stood on a glass board on Miami Beach in nothing but swimming shorts for Sports Illustrated, after all.

It is something up for debate, undoubtedly. High-profile does not equate to best, brightest or most significant.

But as Balotelli flies in, he does so having won the trophies Liverpool covet most; he does so as arguably the biggest signing for the club in the post-war era.