Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli believes that Steven Gerrard is as good as Andrea Pirlo.
The Italian midfielder has guided Juventus to three consecutive Serie A titles and has been a huge success for the Italian national side in recent years, helping them to a Euro 2012 final, which they lost to champions Spain.
His international team-mate Mario Balotelli has been able to play alongside both Pirlo and former England captain Gerrard during his career and believes the latter is as good as the former after watching him for Liverpool this season.
“Gerrard is an amazing player,” the 24-year-old told Sport magazine. “I had really not seen much of him before this season, apart from for England, but wow. I think of him as being at the same level as Pirlo.
“Vision, technique, but he is powerful as well. Stevie can do anything. It’s going to be very difficult for the team to find another player like him in the future.”