The enigmatic Italian striker has been revitalised at Nice and, with his contract up at the end of the season, is being linked with several top teams
With the close of the 2014 summer transfer window approaching fast and Liverpool still struggling to sign a world-class striker, then manager Brendan Rodgers went to Steven Gerrard and told his captain that desperate times called for desperate measures.
"You know we've missed out on a couple of signings, so I'm basically left with no option but to have a bit of a gamble," the Northern Irishman stated, before taking a long pause.