Liverpool’s former chief executive, Ian Ayre, has revealed the circumstances that almost led Luis Suarez proposed move to Barcelona falling through. Suarez made the £75 million switch to Barcelona in the summer of 2014. The move came just after the player had been at the centre of controversy during the World Cup 2014. Suarez bit into Italy defender Giorgio Cellini and was subsequently banned for four months from any football-related activity. Ayre has revealed that the club had been in negotiations with Barcelona even as the incident happened.
Barcelona immediately called up Liverpool in order to ask for a lower fee. Yet, Ayre’s response coupled with Barcelona’s interest in the player helped the deal to progress, as revealed by the former Chief executive. Ayre said:
“The hardest one out [transfer] has to be Suarez, because a) nobody wanted him to leave and b) halfway through the process he bit somebody at the World Cup.
“I remember the sporting director of Barcelona calling me during that game, immediately as Suarez bit the player, and he said to me: ‘My friend, he’s bitten somebody, how can this be the price?’
“I said: ‘He’d already bitten somebody when you first bid!'”
Suarez is no stranger to the biting controversy after having first served a suspension during his time at Ajax in 2010. However, his issues with biting came to prominence during his time at Liverpool when he bit into Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in 2013. These aspects made Suarez a hugely unpopular player, but he remained an incredible striker on the field. The latter had the biggest say in the proposed move to Barcelona, who ultimately paid the £75 million demanded by Liverpool in order to allow Suarez to leave the club. Since joining the Catalan outfit, Suarez has been in incredible form as he has scored 116 goals in 143 appearances for the club in the last three years.
Liverpool may have secured the best possible deal in order to let the player go, but they have struggled when it comes to replacing the Uruguayan. While the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino have been able to score goals, both of them have not been able to get Liverpool closer to the Premier League title. The goals from Suarez was a major factor behind Liverpool going within touching distance of the league title during his final campaign with Liverpool in the 2013-14 season.
Over the years, Liverpool have had great forwards in the form of Fernando Torres and Suarez, but the lack of Champions League football on a regular basis and the inability to challenge for the top honours have been seen as primary reasons behind both these players not staying at Anfield. Torres was sold to Chelsea for £50 million, while the club received the highest figure from the sale of a player after the departure of Suarez.
