Mario Balotelli is playing badly at Liverpool because he misses his daughter, says agent

Striker has scored two goals in 14 appearances for the Reds

Mario Balotelli has not hit the ground running at Liverpool (Getty Images)

Mario Balotelli's agent has claimed that the striker is struggling for form at Liverpool because his misses his one-year-old daughter, Pia.

Balotelli, who is currently sidelined with a groin injury, has scored just two goals in 14 appearances for the Reds since joining the club from AC Milan for £16m in August, failing to score in the Premier League.

There had been talk of Balotelli making a return to Italy, where his daughter lives with her mother, in January, but his representative, Mino Raiola has dismissed this, and said the reason he is playing badly is because he s not seeing his daughter.

"It's wrong to criticise him," Raiola told newspaper Il Corriere dello Sport. "He needs to be given time to adapt at Liverpool. His difficult time is not connected to football, but to the fact he can’t see his daughter as much as he would like.

"Balotelli will never go back to an Italian team. I’ve already made that mistake once, because I listened to him.