A year on Liverpool would have happily accepted half what they paid for Balotelli - but there were absolutely no takers.
Having worked wonders with the likes of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, Rodgers genuinely thought he could succeed where Roberto Mancini and Jose Mourinho had previously failed and change Balotelli. But he soon found that he was banging his head against a brick wall.
Balotelli was told he needed to adjust his game in order to succeed at Liverpool. He couldn’t simply demand the ball into his feet, he had to be more mobile. Rodgers was wasting his breath.
From the moment hundreds packed outside Melwood to welcome him to the club, supporters embraced him. ‘Mario magnifico’, sang the Kop. They wanted him to succeed.
There was room for a new icon post-Suarez but Balotelli never looked like filling that void. There were goals against Ludogorets, Swansea, Spurs and Besiktas but precious little else to justify all the fanfare around him.
Now Milan have taken him back amid talk of Balotelli vowing to “focus on his football” and agreeing to curb his antics by signing up to a strict code of conduct.
We’ve heard it all before.
Sorrento, the Italian restaurant in Formby, will certainly miss Balotelli but few others will mourn his exit. He was damaging for the team ethic and unity Rodgers prides himself on.
It was an expensive gamble that never looked like paying off. Balotelli will never change his ways.
It will be a relief to Rodgers that he’s now someone else’s problem