Mario Balotelli would need only seven goals per season for Liverpool to see the financial benefit of his £16million recruitment from AC Milan. Whether or not the statistical boffins at John W Henry’s Fenway Sports Group have made such calculations remains unknown but FSG have famously applied ‘Moneyball’ techniques to player recruitment at Anfield in the past and there is sure to have been some economic reckoning around Balotelli. The mathematics that say he needs seven goals per season to repay the investment in him is simple enough, and is based on him being given a three-year contract on wages of around £5million per year.
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Mario Balotelli is expected to complete a £16million move to Liverpool
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AC Milan striker is expected to sign a three-year deal at £5m wages per year
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Balotelli would need to score just seven Premier League goals a season to payback his Anfield fee
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In the 2013/14 Premier League campaign there were 1,052 goals scored and the 20 clubs combined won 1,062 points
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Last season the total amount of Premier League prize money split between the 20 clubs was £1.563billion - equating to roughly £1.5m per goal
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A £31m outlay on Balotelli over three seasons would require 21 goals
Predator: Balotelli has scored 26 goals in 43 @placeholder league games since joining the club in January last year