The ex-Reds winger feels the club legend was never going to appreciate the Italian's talents and has revealed he warned his friend against moving to Anfield
Steven Gerrard's "jealousy" made sure Mario Balotelli would fail at Liverpool, according to El-Hadji Diouf.
Balotelli ended a torrid two-year spell at Anfield by moving to Nice on a free transfer on deadline day.
He scored two goals on his debut as his new club beat Marseille 3-2 on Sunday and admitted after the match that joining Liverpool was the “worst decision” of his life.
And Diouf, who netted just three league goals in three years at Liverpool, has since revealed he warned Balotelli about moving to the Reds in 2014, insisting then-captain Gerrard would not welcome his superior talents in the dressing room.
"I told him not to go to Liverpool. It wasn't made for him, that things couldn't go well with Gerrard, who has never had his talent and then said negative things about him," he told L'Equipe.
"Gerrard is a jealous man who doesn't like men of character. Mario is a good person that you should listen to. He's not a guy who's going to cause problems in the dressing room.
"There are a lot of things that have been made up about him. People tell tales about him, but they're often a load of rubbish."