A part of me did not wish to see Liverpool Football Club present Luis Suarez with the platform to say goodbye on his terms. But this is Liverpool Football Club and he has been allowed to say his goodbyes on the club's website where he stressed how difficult it was to leave, but he is following his dream.
He statement on the club website read as follows, "It is with a heavy heart that I leave Liverpool for a new life and new challenges in Spain. Both me and my family have fallen in love with this club and with the city.
"But most of all I have fallen in love with the incredible fans. You have always supported me and we, as a family, will never forget it, we will always be Liverpool supporters.
"I hope you can all understand why I have made this decision. This club did all they could to get me to stay, but playing and living in Spain, where my wife's family live, is a lifelong dream and ambition. I believe now the timing is right.
"I wish Brendan Rodgers and the team well for the future. The club is in great hands and I'm sure will be successful again next season.
"I am very proud I have played my part in helping to return Liverpool to the elite of the Premier League and in particular back into the Champions League.
"Thank you again for some great moments and memories. You'll Never Walk Alone."
His shenanigans have been well documented and his actions have thrown the club into dispute through its unfettered support and the shameless way he has thrown the fans love back in their faces with his attics and the brazen way he tried at the start of the last two seasons to expurgate his way out of the club.
"I hope you can all understand why I have made this decision. This club did all they could to get me to stay, but playing and living in Spain, where my wife's family live, is a lifelong dream and ambition. I believe now the timing is right.
"I wish Brendan Rodgers and the team well for the future. The club is in great hands and I'm sure will be successful again next season.
"I am very proud I have played my part in helping to return Liverpool to the elite of the Premier League and in particular back into the Champions League.
"Thank you again for some great moments and memories. You'll Never Walk Alone."
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| Suarez No.9 shirt already on sale |
He may be living his dream of "playing and living in Spain..." but one should remember that if the player had had his way a year ago, he would now be playing at the Emirates and living in North London as opposed to Barcelona.
Conspiracy theorist may say this was a stich up in the making. One moment Barcelona cannot make transfers and the next the block on transfers is lifted, Suarez apologises, Sanchez moves to Arsenal (which helps fund the transfer) and Suarez then moves to Barcelona. What's the betting UEFA does not follow through with the substantial nature of the original ban or re-instigates it only once Barcelona have filled their stocks to cope over the period of the ban?
Ours is not reason why as it serves no purpose where Platini and UEFA are concerned because many of that organisations decisions are tilted towards Spanish and Italian clubs who are waylaid with debt or in the cases of Real Madrid and Barcelona have televisions deals which tilt La Liga in their favour before a ball is kicked each season and are not calculated in UEFA's Financial Fair Play calculations.
Luis Suarez is a thrilling football player and there is probably no other player in the world who could, half fit, have demolished, devastated and demoralised England in such stunning fashion.
He is a force of nature on the pitch whose will to win is a trait one cannot teach, but, to my mind he leaves behind a blemished reputation and a tarnished memory because at his worst he disgraced the game of football.
No player is bigger than Liverpool Football Club, but in saying that, the list of world class players leaving us over the last few years makes uncomfortable reading and is beginning to bite. It will be difficult to replace the world's most consistent and pre-eminent striker who not only topped the list in goal-scoring, but was the joint top in terms of assist in the Premier League. In essence, we are looking for two players to replace one.
We will always be susceptible to losing big players to the Spanish giants until we consistently challenge for and start winning big prizes which Brendan Rogers knows only too well as did Kenny Dalglish (Torres) and Rafael Benitez (Mascherano and Alonso) before him.
The pressure has ramped up a couple of notches following last seasons exploits and Rogers will be determined to prove that there is life after Suarez and that Daniel Sturridge improves again as he takes on the mantle as Liverpool's premier striker.
No player is bigger than Liverpool Football Club, but in saying that, the list of world class players leaving us over the last few years makes uncomfortable reading and is beginning to bite. It will be difficult to replace the world's most consistent and pre-eminent striker who not only topped the list in goal-scoring, but was the joint top in terms of assist in the Premier League. In essence, we are looking for two players to replace one.
We will always be susceptible to losing big players to the Spanish giants until we consistently challenge for and start winning big prizes which Brendan Rogers knows only too well as did Kenny Dalglish (Torres) and Rafael Benitez (Mascherano and Alonso) before him.
The pressure has ramped up a couple of notches following last seasons exploits and Rogers will be determined to prove that there is life after Suarez and that Daniel Sturridge improves again as he takes on the mantle as Liverpool's premier striker.
Technically brilliant. Character and behaviour and lies won to be forgotten either. Vic and I were both at the match when the altercation with Evra happened and it was clear that something significant occurred. He probably would have left us anyway regardless of whether he turned Dracula again or not.
ReplyDeleteAs Livingstone alluded to earlier this week, we need to make sure we spend our money on a proper striker. Let's not forget that we need to replace the 30+ goals that Suarez scored. Whilst I would welcome Lukaku or Bony, they are not really replacements for Suarez.
Not sure the Sanchez man could have been either, it is a big void but hey who will stay at the club will stay. Having to hold our breathe at each transfer window is too much of a bad blood! I wish him well. It would not surprise me if Liverpool get drawn in the same group as Barc in the CL.
DeleteAgree also we not not think that bringing in some of the new players will cover LS. The players we have brought in are the bolster and strengthen the squad. LS showed what one quality player can do. Within a mix of a good squad. I would rather wait for a bit and find a player of quality. And we don't have to blow the bank for that. It will take some beating a player like LS goal record.
DeleteThe problem is that nobody is a replacement for Suarez, reports were circulating this morning that we are going to bud £45 million for Dortmund’s Marco Reus, does anybody know if the guy’s any good? I don’t watch a lot of Bundesliga. Also the Moreno deal seems to have been reignited since we’ve been talking to Sevilla about loaning the Aspas for the season, it seems that Biffa has finally made himself useful
DeleteFrom the brief snippets I’ve seen of him, technically he looks very good, Wenger was showing an interest in him before he started flirting with Draxler. I always thought he was more of an attacking midfielder rather than a striker so wouldn’t see him as a direct replacement for Suarez. Hope that £45M is a newspaper valuation as it seems a bit on the high side.
DeleteMarco Reus is Gerrard, Mueller and Sturridge rolled into one, He is very clinical, I can tell you that …
DeleteFrom the Guardian today – Probably nonsense but It could be Bony AND Lukaku –
DeleteReplacing the irreplaceable is inherently impossible, but Brendan Rodgers sure ain’t going to die wondering. Armed with £75m from the sale of Luis Suárez to Barcelona, Rodgers has filled up the Liverpool team bus with cash, put a cannon on the roof and started firing the Benjamins at any club across Europe with young forwards of repute. Divock Origi and Lazar Markovic are finalising terms close to the Melwood training ground as we speak. Wilfried Bony is on the brink of a £19m move from Swansea City after successfully using the Welsh club as a stepping stone. And Liverpool are reportedly in advanced talks with Chelsea over a £26m deal forRomelu Lukaku. Everton will not be pleased.
Rodgers has also trained his sights on Marco Reus and is hoping a £45m bid will be enough to lift the Borussia Dortmund speedster from his double misery of missing out on Germany’s World Cup-winning campaign through injury and a dream move to Barcelona after the Catalans opted to sign Suárez instead. Arda Turan of Atlético Madrid is also on the radar of the Liverpool manager, who is so caught up in his newfound wealth he will risk further angering Ronald Koeman by returning to Southampton for Jay Rodriguez. Watch out for the handshake snub when Saints head to Anfield on the opening weekend.
Seems like instead of having 8 central defenders as per last season, we're going for 8 attackers. We can't go for Bony M AND Lukaku and Reus. Surely not. I bet Sturridge won't be too impressed
DeleteWe need to see players leaving too, led by Lucas and Biffa Aspas.
Agreed.
DeleteMo
More likely he’s lining up Bony or Lukaku for when Reus turns down a move to Anfield.
DeleteReus is ruddy good player and if Ayre can pull off the deal it will be a huge bit of business. It may well be the time, because he's upset with Barcelona as he feels they played him to get Suarez. They told him they were interested, so he told Man U that he wasn't interested in their bid and then they went and bought Suarez.
DeleteGiven what we already have, he'd probably play close to Sturridge as in behind him. The guy has sublime ball control.
It's probably just a pipedream as Tony Barrett of the Times says the story is bogus.
I see we paid £2 million to Ajax as a sell on fee from Suarez transfer.
Luis Suarez transfer to Barcelona: the options Liverpool FC have to replace the striker after £75million deal - Liverpool Echo - Bing Sport
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=BDIGeneric&aid=&tid=f9e610422f1f4972a2247a5f5e4f92b3&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.liverpoolecho.co.uk%2fsport%2ffootball%2ffootball-news%2fluis-suarez-transfer-barcelona-options-7388957&c=Taxh9U47Q6JKigHjzkImmYKOxUno_tlwjNpFTTyjUbk&mkt=en-gb
Good article. Big questions and options with no solution. The article cleverly notes that doing almost nothing to replace him - and by the way the new stadium costs £75m. I'd like to think that the £s we've spent in the transfer market is not related to the transfer coffers.
DeleteAfter not getting Sanchez, who else is available that can give us 31 goals? The problem in trying to replace Suarez is exactly what the article says, basically who can replace a number 9, 10 and wide player in one skin? It's a similar problem that King Kenny tried to consider when looking at long term replacements for Stevie G, hence ending up with Charlie Adam, Henderson, and to some extent Downing, to bridge the gap.
If we can't replace his goals then I'd probably grab £10m and get Remy from Newcastle/QPR and tell him that he will be competing with Bony (if we buy him) for a starting berth. So basically this is the strike force that replaces Suarez, Aspas and Borini. Ricky will act as the sub that offers a different dimension. I guess Origio will have to stay on loan but if we can't get the strikers we want then he'd be our third or fourth striker.