"?Liverpool goalscoring legend Robbie Fowler offered a withering assessment of Mario Balotelli's failed two-year spell at Anfield, saying he is yet to see any progress from the Italian.
Balotelli ended his nightmare spell with Liverpool by signing for Nice on the last day of the transfer window and, as he is set to embark on a journey of redemption in France, Fowler has said he needs to dramatically alter his attitude and approach to football if he is to succeed.
"People still say he's got talent, but I've yet to see any. No scoring instinct, no positional sense, and no progress," wrote Fowler in his column for the Sunday Mirror.
Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler lays into Mario Balotelli for a career of wasted potential https://t.co/P2VW53Y8Ab pic.twitter.com/XKuHY19rJa
"His agent called Jurgen Klopp a piece of s*** because Liverpool had had enough. But then it's always someone else's fault with Mario.
'"A really nice guy," they told me, 'a lovable rogue.' Yeah, but what's he like as a striker? Silence."
Balotelli's career has nosedived after breaking onto the scene with Inter Milan when he was still a teenager. He was signed for Manchester City and showed flickers of brilliance, but ultimately fell out of favour and moved to AC Milan.
Brendan Rodgers admitted that signing him for the Reds in 2014 was a 'calculated risk' and it was one that did not pay off for the Ulsterman, with Balotelli only managing four goals in 28 appearances.
Balotelli was recently presented as a Nice player and insisted the Ligue 1 side are not taking a risk in signing him.
"The career that I have had, it's different to what has been written in the press,' Balotelli said.
"To me I don't represent a risk. I have had fitness problems, but a risk? No!"
And with a point to prove, Balotelli played the full 90 minutes as Nice faced southern neighbours Marseille on Sunday in a dramatic home win, scoring twice to help his new team to a 3-2 victory.
WATCH: "He can say what he wants." Jurgen Klopp is not upset by Mario Balotelli's agent hitting out at Liverpool. https://t.co/cJRZSx0XXU