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Premier League: Liverpool's Jordan Henderson happy Mario Balotelli signed

Jordan Henderson: Liverpool midfielder in action against Manchester City
Image: Jordan Henderson: Liverpool midfielder in action against Manchester City

Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson is relishing the prospect of playing in the same team as Mario Balotelli following the striker’s arrival at Anfield.

The 24-year-old’s £16m transfer from AC Milan was completed on Monday and he could make his debut against Tottenham at White Hart Lane next weekend.

Balotelli watched his new team lose 3-1 against one of his former clubs, Manchester City, last night, and he appeared in the away dressing room to greet his new team-mates before the match.

"I think everybody is looking forward to working with him,” Henderson said.

"He is a very talented player and a very big player coming into the club. Hopefully he can give us a big lift and play some part in the next game.

"He was in the dressing room wishing everyone luck. It was good to see him. Hopefully he can get a good week's training under his belt and be ready for Sunday."

Liverpool started well against City and had the better of the first half until defensive errors allowed Stevan Jovetic to smash the home side into the lead just before the break.

City then took complete control after the break with Jovetic adding a fine second and Sergio Aguero coming off the bench for a superb third.

Substitute Rickie Lambert forced in an 83rd-minute consolation off Pablo Zabaleta, but City had firmly underlined their superiority by that point.

Henderson reckons Liverpool were unfortunate not to get more from the match, though, but he believes the team can bounce back at Tottenham.

The 24-year-old said: "Before they scored I felt we were in control of the game, especially dominating possession of the ball, so going in 1-0 at half-time was hard to take.

"Unfortunately they scored a couple more - it deflated us, but we kept going, kept fighting. You saw that with Rickie's goal, and then he had another chance. It could have been a different story.

"We will keep going. We had chances. We are always going to create chances with the players we have got.

"We have just got to work in training on the things we need to work on and look forward to the next game."

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