Liverpool sold £50,000’s worth of Mario Balotelli shirts on the day he joined from Milan, according to the club’s chief executive, Ian Ayre.

Speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester, and at a seminar entitled “How to run a club successfully”, Ayre revealed that the £16m transfer began to generate a return on day one of Balotelli’s Anfield career. The £50,000 worth of shirts would work out at approximately 770 adult shirts at £65 apiece.

Ayre said: “You have to be ready for these opportunities. In the past we didn’t capitalise on opportunities but those days are long gone.”

Liverpool’s manager Brendan Rodgers admitted when Balotelli signed last month that his £16m price tag was part of the attraction for a “calculated risk” on the 24-year-old, who is in line to make his Anfield debut against Aston Villa on Saturday with Daniel Sturridge nursing a thigh injury.