Liverpool need to act swiftly for the good of the club and to disengage from daily Luis Suarez speculation.
The constant press speculation and player posturing is oh so reminiscent of previous Liverpool transfer exits. Debacles that have made the club look weak in the past. Michael Owen, Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and even the 6 month long rumblings of Fernando Torres before he eventually departed for Chelsea.
Football clubs and sadly supporters are all too aware that it is the players that hold the cards - that contracts are effectively meaningless pieces of paper - principally designed to prevent players leaving for next to nothing.
Planning on selling a player in the summer? Give him an extra few grand a week - bang a few years on his contract - and then we'll have an extra few £M in the summer.
So we all know that Luis Suarez holds the cards. He doesn't really want to be at Liverpool any more. He wants off, and whether it's this summer (which is looking better than a 50% chance) or at some other time in the next 6/12 months - he is off. Luis Suarez will not be encroaching on the record appearance chart for Liverpool FC and I'd imagine all Liverpool fans know this.
So with pre-season fixtures about to get underway - it seems bewildering that Liverpool are sitting on their hands and repeating the mistakes of the past.
Iago Aspas may well have something to offer, but at the minute his comparisons will be drawn against current backup striker Fabio Borini rather than a 30 goal a season Suarez.
Daniel Sturridge is a man to rely on for goals - but not for week in week out appearances. His injury problems have recurred constantly throughout his career and it is clear that the demands of a long season will catch up on him for periods at a time.
What are Liverpool waiting for? Holding out for the maximum price on the last day of the transfer window? Then what - sign an Andy Carroll - or do what they did last season - let Andy Carroll go and then fail to replace him?
Liverpool need to plan without Luis Suarez now. They need to bolster their attack and ensure that the club's preparations for the new season are their main priority.
Last season Liverpool started poorly - so poorly that any dream of Champions League qualification looked impossible after a quarter of the season.
The reds funds are bolstered by a massive increase in TV money. Luis Suarez will command a decent transfer fee when he goes. The finances are clearly there for the reds to go out and spend.
Liverpool's indecisiveness at this stage will cost them points at the start of the season.
The reds should be prepared to act now to ensure that the Luis Suarez affair becomes of decreasing interest to the players, club staff and supporters. Bring in a quality attacker, a player to genuinely excite fans and allow everyone to swiftly move on from even caring about where Luis Suarez is playing next season.
For the sake of the football team - have a night off from the baseball.
suarez does not hold all the cards, the club does. he has a long contract and is our best player. the only card anyone else can play is a cheque for £50m otherwise he’s stays, because liverpool, if they really are serous about a challenge on the top 4 need to keep suarez. so madrid, arsenal, city etc thats the price, or come back in 12 months.when may be cheaper or he may want to stay because we finished in the top 4. yep the clubs hold the cards not suarez. if he did he wouldn’t be doing his best to piss everyone off from across the atlantic
Liverpool need to let luis go also Henderson, Downing and Borini they just not good enough and with that cash BUY a top Striker , Sturridge is good but not a leading striker and great CB and I would imagine then we would have squad strong enough to challenge and lets not keep on top 4 but for the title as well , that’s what we expect from LFC
Boring. Why do you throw Henderson in there? Typical uneducated trash.
What you expect from LFC no one actually cares for, because you’re stupid. You don’t support the players.
LFC should set the price for transfer = not less than £50m cash
Set a deadline for Suarez to hand in transfer request = 2 weeks from now (26 July 2013. Set same deadline for bids from interested Clubs. This will allow the Club to get a replacement and improve the starting XI at Anfield
Saurez needs to be a man and clearly state his desires and stop being coy. He is tipping his toes to test the waters and see what club bites. RM has made no approach so far and I don’t think they will. I don’t see LFC selling him to another EPL team and Saurez will still have to face the English media. If he thinks the media is any different in another country and treat him any differently he is an idiot. It may well be that the foreign media will also jump onto the bandwagon and dissect his every move. He simply is deluded at the moment. He needs to come back to anfield and talk to BR and clear the air.
Liverpool should have been signing players of the quality of Gerrard, Suarez and Agger to show their intent. Accepted that some of the players that Rodgers has signed have done well; especially Coutinho and Sturridge. The recruiting of Dalglish (who made some attrocious signings) and then Rodgers may have been a reason for Suarez wanting a move as he might see this all as the making of a club that is not thinking big.
Yes, by all means, get a quality replacement. The fact still remains that Liverpool must not release Suarez on the cheap. Remember Leeds United and Cantona, and how he eventually went on to make a rival club better. It looks like we are now being faced with a similar dillema.
Situations with Owen, Alonso, Mascherano and Torres has made our great club look so weak, and a laughing stock in world football. Liverpool FC have all the aces; not Suarez as this article has indicated. Liverpool can hold on to him and make him see out his contract where that period will see him miss out on his peak years.
Common sense has to be used in this situation. I don’t want an unhappy player disrupting my club. At the same time I don’t want a greedy agent, or other shifty football clubs exacerbating the situation.
Luis Suarez is bound by a contract to this great football club. He is not bigger than the club. The owners of Liverpool have got to make a point to the footballing world that Liverpool FC is not a soft touch; as certain events in our great club’s history might be indicating.
As long as they hold on to those three key points and any other positive one that I have not added, I feel that the conclusion to this regrettable saga will be a win win all round.
So what happens if no one offers 40million for him? Can LFC tell him to shut the eft up and honour his contract? I can see why the rest of the world hates him.
If no one offers 40 million for him HE STAYS n apoligise’s for all the grief he has caused to ALL liverpool fans , club and whoever !!
Problem is this mentality, More clubs need to stand up and just say No if they dont want to sell, If needs be bench him and let him not play at all, If he disrupts the team leave him out. Sometimes one stand and a loss off cash is a bonus for the future as players would know they cant force the clubs hand
Yes Grug, I agree with you on that. Manchester City did this with Teves; and he had to back down eventually. No one player is bigger than a football club.
Agreed. Also, if Madrid want you they will wait for you. See: Spurs with Modric and United with Ronaldo who were both told to wait because they have a contract.
One of the few sensible view points I have seen. The problem is attracting a decent replacement striker looks to be very challenging.
Maybe their just not going to sell him, he has a contract with a few years to run on it yet so they are in total control. If I was them I would tell him he can go next season but your playing your football at Anfield this year.
i agree , tell him he has to play out next season n he can agree to go to whatever club he wants as long as they agree to pay 40 million plus !!
Otherwise he goes abroad and not to another english club and its 50 million n no less !!
Agreed but easier said than done … Do you know of a guaranteed 30 goal a season striker?
Who knows? Maybe LFC have already realised they may need a replacement!
Liverpool have spent a certain amount of money on unproven players; Mignolet an exception, and we don’t even know how those players’ are going to cope with the Premier League.
Would you sell a proven player at World Cup level, and hand the cash to a manager who is still proving himself?