Mario Balotelli for summer Liverpool exit?

Mario Balotelli has reportedly been given four months to save his Liverpool career.

The Italian has failed to score for the Reds in the Premier League since his £16m move from AC Milan in the summer and has rarely featured for the Merseysiders in recent weeks.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will not offload the frontman in the January transfer window, but The Mirror claims that the Northern Irishman may decide to sell the ex-Manchester City star at the end of the season, if his form fails to improve.

Rodgers has publicly offered his backing to the under-fire forward, but has not picked Balotelli in his starting XI since early November.

Liverpool travel to face struggling Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.