Transfer Sagas: Luis Suarez

Adapted from www.channelweb.co.uk

Should I stay or should I go? Not a question a certain Mr. Suarez is any longer asking himself following this morning's revelations that he is now apparently desperate to leave Liverpool Football Club.

Throwing one of the summer's longest running and controversial moves into yet more turmoil, this threatens to sour relations not only between the player and his club, but also between two of the Premier League's biggest clubs, with Brendan Rogers accusing Arsenal of showing a lack of class in their pusuit. So should poor little Luis be freed from the tyranny of Anfield, or should Suarez sober up and realise which side his bread is in fact buttered?

www.theguardian.com

Lets look at the man. Why should he stay? Backed due to his ability and importance to the club, through proven racism allegations and inexplicably biting Ivanovic just months later, Luis Suarez owes Liverpool Football Club a lot. Here are two offences for which any normal employee could easily be sacked and depending on the severity even imprisoned. As it is, his manger(s), team-mates and fans alike have rallied round him and offered their support to an easily dislikeable character. As a man, he arguably owes more to his club than any player previous. Cantona's infamous kung-fu kick at Selhurst park draws obvious comparisons, though one wonders if Luis would have been hung out to dry but for his importance to the club last season. It took Ajax less than two months to rid themselves of a problem after his previous attempts at cannibalism.

Yet none of this appears to matter to Suarez himself. A man with a seemingly warped sense of morality, feels now that he has been lied to and that his ambitions cannot be fulfilled at a club where he, arguably the best player, has been suspended for lengthy spells. Having in the eyes of many, done very little to deserve a shot at the big time, the player is now calling to be allowed to leave for Champions League football, though will seemingly not put in an official transfer request in order to receive a so-called 'loyalty' bonus. The only sticking point are claims made by the player that he has been promised that he may leave, having turned down a 'big', club last summer, in a failed attempt to help the Merseysiders into the Champions League. It seems odd that Liverpool would cut such a deal, other than in an easily deniable verbal sense, rather than as he claims:

www.isportstimes.com

"Last year I had the opportunity to move to a big European Club and I stayed on the understanding that, if we failed to qualify for the Champions League the following season, I'd be allowed to go... They gave me their word a year ago and now I want them to honour that. And it is not just something verbal with the coach but something that is written in the contract."


If this is indeed the case however, Liverpool may find themselves without a legal leg to stand on. Claiming that he and his representatives would happily take their case to the Premier League if the move continues to be blocked, it seems Luis may get his wish, selfish as it appears to be.

It is baffling then, that this is just another part of football today. He is not the only want-a-way player in the world, or even the Premier League, but to see the gulf in attitude even between players at the same club- for example Gerrard turning down a move to treble winning Bayern Munich to stay at the club he loves, compared with Suarez jumping ship at the first opportunity- is truly staggering. But this is modern football. It's not just 22 men chasing a ball any more. Its a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week, 365 day of the year soap opera. And we love it.