Liverpool have offered Mario Balotelli to just about every club in Europe, and the responses have been one hard pass after another. But one of the few cold calls they haven’t made is to Palermo. And it turns out they’re actually interested.

Balotelli was born in Palermo and retains a fondness for the Sicilian capital — a sentiment that was recently reciprocated by Palermo fans in the form of a banner outside the Renzo Barbera Stadium calling for the club to pursue him.

#Palermo fans put up a banner asking for Mario Balotelli pic.twitter.com/EHvhPFlbfc

— Ultra Palermo (@UltraPalermo) August 23, 2016

This has prompted Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini — a man who has sacked more managers than you have drawn breaths over your entire lifetime — is suggesting that he could be a horrifying role model for the striker. From Football Italia:

“Liverpool do need to recycle him now. If he was proposed to us by Mino Raiola, then we could start talking about it, why not?

“I could be a father figure for Balotelli.”

Now, this is a far cry from what Zamparini said about Balotelli just two weeks ago:

“Technically, there’s nothing to discuss with the lad,” Zamparini acknowledged on Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli.

“But what kind of desire and drive would a lad who is earning €5m-€6m a year have to come to Palermo? We can’t solve Balotelli’s problems.”

Obviously, this man is unstable at best and probably not the type of authority figure Balotelli needs in his life. Who goes from saying “Nah, screw that guy” to “I WILL BE HIS FATHER” in two weeks? This wouldn’t end well.

Still, it’s probably a better option than playing in the Swiss league.