It was easier living with the fact that Luis Suarez wanted to leave Liverpool, but only to the La Liga giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Suddenly, the interest from Chelsea and Arsenal has caught everyone, including the club and the player, by surprise, and to a minor state of panic.
When you try to identify and analyze the signings Liverpool have made so far this summer, which includes two Spanish forwards in Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto, it’s easy to see they weren’t completely confident in their ability to hold on to Suarez in any case.
But there’s a difference between letting Suarez go to Spain, and keeping him within the Premier League, not to mention going to clubs that are historic, and hopefully future rivals of Liverpool for more than just symbolic purposes.
Suarez himself has changed his mantra. From talking about loving Anfield and not wanting to play for anyone else in England, but not wanting to stay in England nonetheless, is suddenly singing a different tune. Champions League football coming first, not to mention suddenly feeling less heat from the British press, and feeling flattered by the interest he’s getting from the London clubs.
According to Suarez, there hasn’t been any approach from Arsenal to him; there haven’t been any offers from anyone. Only speculations, and at the moment, he’ll be reporting to Liverpool training on July 21. But on the way, he’s crossing his fingers something develops that will take him away.
Liverpool are a club that’s looking to become self-sufficient, and as long as they have a small stadium (only 45,000), and with owners unwilling to cover debt like in Manchester City or Chelsea, selling top players might become something of a habit. But selling Suarez isn’t something the club needs to remain up & running. While keeping an unhappy player usually doesn’t bode well, turning into an Arsenal-sort-of-feeder-club-for-the-rich should be out of the question.
Liverpool want to be in Europe again, in the Champions League. While Suarez is replaceable, making your rivals stronger and by that keeping the door to the top 4 closed is something Liverpool can’t endorse or help some of their opponents achieve. Suarez isn’t underpaid or being treated badly. In fact, most clubs wouldn’t have stood by Suarez through his ordeals the way Liverpool have. Giving them the benefit of the doubt is something he might actually owe them.