Time for the Anfield side to take the money and run?
1. No more controversy
The negative press that comes with Suarez has not only damaged his reputation, but that of the club’s too. Bad press has followed Suarez wherever he’s gone. Upon completing a move to fellow Eredivise side Ajax in 2007 he was suspended for a dressing room altercation with teammate Albert Luque – not a great way to introduce yourself to your new club.
In 2010 he earned himself a bad name on the world wide stage as he handled a goal bound effort for Uruguay against Ghana during the World Cup in South Africa (this being his second international red card after being dismissed on his debut in 2007). Later in the year he also took his first bite out of an opponent for Ajax, earning himself a seven game ban in the process.
Since then he’s been involved in arguments about race, simulation and continued canibalism during his time on Merseyside. The club has taken a lot of flak for sticking by their man and his antics are causing them more grief than they need.
Surely it would be better to move him on to become someone else’s problem than to have to deal with his bi-monthly outbursts.
2. Think of the money
A player of Suarez’s quality would easily command a fee somewhere in the region of £50 million – which is the price that the club have recently stated they would consider selling him for. Real Madrid are reportedly keen to pay this should their ambitious gambit for Spurs star Gareth Bale fails to come to fruition.
Despite the recent signings this summer, the club still needs some heavy investment and rotation, especially in defence. Kolo Toure may provide a short term answer, but at 32-years-old he is hardly a spring chicken who will be there to lead the club in five years time and Jamie Carragher’s retirement at the end of last season means that they are down to just the one talismanic player in the shape of Gerrard.
The majority of that £50 million could, and would, be well spent to improve areas of the squad that need it most as they’ve also looked a little light from wide areas at times too.
Brendan Rodgers is finally starting to show his intent in the transfer market now and the extra funds will go a long way to helping him realise his ambition with the club.
3. He doesn’t want to be there
Whilst out in Brazil with the Uruguayan national side for last month’s Confederations Cup tournament he embarked on several interviews with the press where he virtually spelled out his desire to make a move to Real Madrid this summer.
Although he claimed to love Liverpool, he cited his treatment by the UK’s press as his main reason for wanting to leave the Premier League – much of that treatment, it could be argued, has been self inflicted by his behaviour both on and off the pitch.
It is likely that he does hold a genuine affection for the Reds, but the last thing that the club will want on their hands is an unhappy star player, and with Madrid reportedly happy to splash out some serious cash to end his English nightmare then perhaps it would be best to thank him for all he’s done and take the money and run.
“I think he’s made it pretty clear that he would like to try something new, including playing at a club that’s in the Champions League,” said former Liverpool midfielder Jan Molby.
“If that’s how he feels, the club has to do the business.”
4. They don’t need him anyway
During the 19 games he’s missed throughout his time with the club (not one of those games has ever been for a red card either!) the rest of the side has had to learn to adapt without him.
And it may be a surprise to learn that they have found it particularly easy.
According to sports statistician OPTA, Liverpool still would have finished in seventh place in the Premier League if he’d missed the entire show – now whilst there may be some give and take there, it does show that all would not be lost if he were to depart this summer.
His 23 goals would be tough to replace, but the form of Daniel Sturridge and creativity of Philipe Coutinho will go a long way to softening the blow, especially now that both players can enjoy their first full season with the club.
New signing Iago Aspas comes highly rated, and though he is an unknown quantity in many respects that may actually work to his advantage as Christian Benteke and Michu have shown at Aston Villa and Swansea respectively.
5. They’ll become a better team without him
In 2001 an American sportswriter by the name of Bill Simmons noticed a trend the occurred in many of the country’s sports that seemed to suggest that whenever a team loses their star player they actually become better for it.
The two key components of this theory are;
- A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series).
- That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) — and both the media and fans immediately write off the team for the following season.
Sound familiar?
The likes of Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur have proved that losing key players isn’t the end of the world and have gone on to flourish with new stars.
It will take some readjustment, but the basic theory means that they will be just fine, it’s the nature of football, players move on – even Manchester United sold their best player when they let Cristiano Ronaldo join Madrid in 2009 and they went on to win a Champions League title, two Premier League victories and a League Cup to top it all off.
Losing a star player isn’t the disaster it was once perceived and pending some smart investment then Liverpool will be competing for honour again in no time.