Goal.com

Jurgen Klopp acted like a "piece of s---" toward Mario Balotelli at Liverpool, according to the striker's agent, Mino Raiola.

Balotelli signed a one-year contract to move to Nice from Liverpool on transfer deadline day and Raiola fired a parting shot at his client's former club.

Raiola said Liverpool accepted that Balotelli had been treated poorly after the forward was forced to train away from the first team, and the agent said Klopp is "not a good coach."

"In the end, the higher-ups at Liverpool admitted that Klopp was wrong," Raiola told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I'm not trying to judge him as a coach — although, for me, he's not a good coach — but he didn't understand that Balotelli is, whatever else, a person.

"Mario has been exemplary. He never complained about training alone. To say that it was wrong of Klopp would be an understatement — he was a piece of s--- about it."

Balotelli is targeting a recall to the Italian national team after turning down offers from around Europe to sign for Nice, Raiola said.

"There were alternatives in Italy, in Germany, in England, in Spain, but we chose Nice," Raiola said. "The French league is interesting and there is attacking football. The national team is a theme that Mario likes a lot but today he should focus on Nice and their performances.

"If the national team needs him, well, we will do other things, but for now he must think only about returning to the field."

Balotelli has made 33 appearances for Italy, but the 26-year-old has not featured for the national team since 2014.