Brendan Rodgers gave the news that no Liverpool fan wants to hear today

It looks like Balotelli's staying put at Anfield for the time being.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers insists the Italian forward will not be leaving the club in the near future, despite Balotelli being strongly linked with a move back to his former club Inter Milan.

Rodgers admitted that he hasn't even contemplated selling the forward, who has not lived up to his £16m transfer fee since rejoining England's top flight.

It's not something I have even thought about, to be honest. We've had a lot of games this season in a lot of competitions and, at this moment in time, the key for me is to keep this squad together.

Balotelli has been a flop at Liverpool since joining the side this summer. He has yet to open his account for the club in the Premier League despite playing in 10 league fixtures for the club, including two as a substitute. The Liverpool forward has failed to find the net in over 730 minutes of Premier League action. Balotelli has scored two goals for the club, in the League Cup and Champions League respectively but on the whole, has failed to adapt to Liverpool's style of football. Despite his poor run of form this season, Balotelli is still a marquee name in the football world and Liverpool could recoup some of the money they spent on him with a quick sale in January. However, judging by Rodgers' recent comments, this is unlikely to happen. Hat-tip to BBC