Following yet more headline making from Liverpool’s Uruguay international, we at Caughtoffside have decided to see how the mercurial Reds attacker compares with some of Planet Football’s other controversial figures from down the years.
El-Hadji Diouf (Leeds United and Senegal)
The former Liverpool forward already had a bit of a bad-boy reputation when he arrived at Anfield from Ligue 1 outfit Lens in 2002, however, that was nothing compared to how the Senegalese was thought of when he left the Merseyside giants three years later.
In particular was a much-publicised incident during a Uefa Cup tie at Celtic Park in March 2003 when the front man spat on a member of the home supporters, which is never a good thing to do at the best of times, but especially not when in Glasgow.
Carlos Tevez (Juventus and Argentina)
There have not been too many players down the years who have actually refused to warm up when asked to by their managers, only to instead sit motionless on the substitutes’ bench.
However, that is exactly what Tevez did while playing for Manchester City in a Uefa Champions League group-stage clash with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena back in September 2011, before then deciding to go on strike, although the forward was still of course paid his whopping £200,000 plus weekly salary in case he went hungry!