Transfers: Sampdoria target Mario Balotelli and want Liverpool to help pay his wages

Preposterous. So preposterous that it might actually work.

We would imagine that Brendan Rodgers has his mobile charged up and full of roaming credit when he is on holidays. If he could possibly offload Mario Balotelli to an unsuspecting club, over the summer, he would come back for 2015/16 with an even bigger, brighter smile. Rodgers, then, may be interested in a proposal from Sampdoria this week. According to Corriere dello Sport, the Serie A side are interested in bringing the Italian striker back home but cannot afford his wages. The idea is to get Liverpool to supplement some of his £110,000-a-week wages. Ludicrous to think that the Genoese club would consider paying Balotelli anything over two-thirds given his misfiring 2014/15 season [one league goal]. That could see the Reds doling out up to €2m in annual wages just to be rid of the guy. Many pragmatists felt Jose Mourinho's comments about helping Radamel Falcao recapture his form, last week, must have been taken out of context. Apparently not. The Daily Star reports that Chelsea have already signed up the Colombian striker [four goals in 29 Manchester United league games last year] and will make an official announcement next week. United may not find shifting Robin van Persie as easy as Falcao. Lazio are supposedly interested in the Dutchman and he still backs himself to do a job at the highest level. https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/610353174600249344 If United do move RVP on, they could do so to get a deal for Lazio's attacking midfielder Felipe Anderson over the line. West Ham, Southampton and Newcastle are all battling it out for QPR's Charlie Austin with the Hammers currently leading the chase to land the striker for £15m. Mesut Ozil is doing his best to get Arsenal to bring in Mats Hummels and, if he has his conniving way, Benedikt Howedes. He told Bild that both defenders would really be suited to stints in the Premier League.