Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is Nearly Priceless

Liverpool needs to block out everything they are hearing from anyone involving striker Luis Suarez, and just allow Suarez to focus on Futbol. Under no circumstance should Liverpool consider selling Luis Suarez…unless of course Real Madrid or any other club offer them the same amount of money that Gareth Bale went for during last summer’s transfer window. And even then it may be worth considering for even a minute because that is an exorbitant amount of money, but then Liverpool would have to weigh their options. And in my mind, Suarez in his current form is nearly priceless. 

Luis Suarez is under contract with Liverpool until 2016, and there were recent reports that Liverpool gaffer Brendan Rodgers and the Liverpool brass were set to offer Suarez a 4-year contract extension worth £200,000-a-week. Liverpool should give that to him and more if necessary to keep this genius on their team. Suarez is part of the group of players I like to refer to as the “Amazings.” The group of players I use this name for are the players in the tier right below Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, because let’s face it, Ronaldo and Messi are on a different plane of great compared to anyone else on Earth; it’s not even close. 

But Luis Suarez is a player of a certain type of class that makes you shake your head in awe at what he is able to do. The goals he has scored in the last few games have been beyond comprehension, especially the volley goal and 3^rd goal against Norwich City, absolutely breathtaking. So even contemplating selling a player with this level of skill would be unforgivable, that is of course, someone throws such an absurd amount of money at Liverpool that they have to at least consider selling him. And he should not go for a penny less than what Gareth Bale did.

If you have ever seen the things Suarez does on the pitch then it would be difficult to argue he is not every bit the player Gareth Bale of Real Madrid is. Their levels of professionalism on the pitch separate the two players, and that’s as far as it goes.

The FA has suspended Suarez on two different occasions for violating the sanctity of the game. 

First there was the racism row with French defender Patrice Evra of Manchester United, and that was an ugly episode for Suarez, for the Liverpool players wearing shirts in support of their teammate, and for Liverpool in general. The Premier League and the entire Futbol world are trying to stamp out disgusting acts of racism, and the Suarez suspension was deserved and it sent out a message to every team in England that racism would not be tolerated; and rightly so. 

Then came the second indefensible act by Luis Suarez of biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic last season for which Luis Suarez received a 10-match ban. No one knows what made the Uruguayan striker feel that biting another man was his best retort for a perceived slight, but Suarez bit Ivanovic and his actions hurt his already damaged reputation, as well as hurting Liverpool’s chances of making an impact on the pitch.

These indiscretions are nothing to laugh at when it comes to thinking about Luis Suarez as a player you want to give £200,000-a-week to. That is a lot of money for a player, and you want to give that sort of pay to not only a top-class footballer, but also to a model of professionalism on and off the pitch. 

No one can predict what Suarez will do next in the craziness department, and he may never do anything terrible like the prior two acts again. But his terrible on field antics must be considered if Liverpool is to make Suarez the face of their club once legendary captain Steven Gerrard hangs up his boots at Anfield. 

As long as Liverpool can keep Suarez in the same state of mind he is currently in right now, then paying him the proposed weekly salary they are discussing is a no-brainer. Because even if Liverpool receive and offer for Suarez that is in excess of £80 pounds, who exactly are you replacing this genius with? 

It’s great to have all the money in the world for quality players, but what players out there are worth letting Suarez go? There aren’t any, because any of the great players in the same class of Suarez like Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Edison Cavani, Robin Van Persie, Gareth Bale, Radamel Falcao or Sergio Aguero are either on the wrong side of 30 years old, never played in the Premier League or have their own long-term contracts with the clubs they play for. No need to go after those other “Amazings” when Liverpool already has one in their ranks and have him firing on all cylinders. 

Even if Liverpool were to get offered a king’s ransom for Luis Suarez, the need not turn their head for even a second unless they think mentally Luis Suarez will do something on the pitch that will get him banned for an entire season. Unless they get that sort of inclination, then selling Suarez would cause irreparable damage to the morale of the KOP supporters, people may consider Liverpool a selling-club, and Liverpool’s current players would feel that the team was not doing everything possible to not only secure the success of their current squad, but also get them to the Champions League.  

When a team has a world-class player they must do whatever is necessary to keep that player, and also to keep him happy. If the Andy Carroll contract tells Liverpool anything, it should be that spend big money on a transfer does not mean you have spent it correctly. 

Liverpool has to keep the Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge partnership intact, and then add another creative player like Pedro from Barcelona to their current squad.

The sky’s the limit for this current Liverpool team, with that strike force and a few more players they will be able to challenge for titles for years to come. And you can’t put a price on that sort of success, no matter how much money you have.