Reports in Spain claim that Luis Suarez has given the biggest indication yet that he would be welcoming of the prospect to leave Liverpool after giving a radio interview to Uruguayan radio station Sport890.
[quote]
I’m happy at Liverpool. I’m happy because of the fans. I made a mistake, I’m human, but they’ve talked about me in ways they shouldn’t have. My family have suffered and things got out of hand. My daughter and my wife have suffered. I’m not prepared to continue to put up with the English press.
I love Liverpool, but if there is a chance of playing somewhere else…I suffered too much as a kid to get where I am to be attacked unfairly by the English press. They haven’t appreciated me as a player, they’ve just judged my attitude.
The desire to win with the big clubs is always there. I’ve talked to my agent, there’s nothing concrete. To say no to Madrid would always be difficult and more so with the team they have. I have a contract with Liverpool, but it would be very difficult to say no to Real Madrid. There are a lot of rumours in the transfer period, but you never know until firm offers are made.
Luis Suarez on Uruguayan Radio
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Many journalists on Twitter have confirmed that the quotes haven’t been lost in translation and that there’s no twisting of the words on this occasion. Using the media is an excuse to move on really – there may be family pressure involved here but Suarez really hasn’t done himself any favours getting banned for 19 games in total in the last two season (one game ban for making rude gestures to Fulham supporters too). The press had started to write about his brilliance and how well he’d done this season until the biting incident occurred which is never going to be let go by the media regardless of the player (although I agree – Suarez is a particularly favourable target for them though!).
It would be a major loss to Liverpool if Suarez was to leave but if reports are to believed about his buy out clause (mentioned to be be either £40m or £50m) Liverpool will be able to rebuild with two or three players. Especially if they continue buy like they did in January when they bought Daniel Sturridge (now injured after the England friendly!!) and Phillipe Coutinho for a combined fee of £20m. Buys like these can certainly change things and since Suarez has been banned Liverpool haven’t missed him with their new boys gelling really well.
Regardless of the impact of the new signings – Liverpool, in my opinion, would be losing one of the top five players in the world and it would be difficult to replace a player like that. Suarez has been the heartbeat of everything that Liverpool created and scored last season and he would be incredibly difficult to replace with one player.
Inefficient Suarez?
But is Suarez really that good? This excellent article has stats on how poorly Luis Suarez compares to the best strikers in Europe in terms of conversion. The article claims he’s the most inefficient superstar out there when compared to the likes of Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Robin van Persie, Cavani and Falcao.
Whilst Luis Suarez can be exciting and frustrating to watch in the same game – he has an X-Factor that will be incredibly difficult to replace and skill that Liverpool fans hadn’t seen for a long time. If Suarez is to leave it will certainly be a blow but Liverpool Football Club will move on as they have done when other players leave.
It’s certainly another summer of change at Liverpool FC and the rebuild of the club continues into a fourth year. With Carragher already gone plus Pepe Reina, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suarez rumoured to be leaving there will be a lot of pressure on Brendan Rodgers and FSG to get the player recruitment right to improve on last seasons performance. We’re in for another roller-coaster summer – hang onto your hats.
[box_light]All of the stats from this article have been taken from the Opta Stats Centre at EPLIndex.com – Subscribe Now (Includes author privileges!) Check out our new Top Stats feature on the Stats Centre which allows you to compare all players in the league & read about new additions to the stats centre.[/box_light]
