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After much wrangling and delay, Liverpool and Barcelona have agreed to a fee – thought to be in the region of £65m – for the transfer of Luis Suarez. The deal is expected to be completed sometime next week once personal terms have been agreed to and a medical completed.
Liverpool have made a handsome profit on Suarez, a player the signed for £22.8m in 2011. But losing the Uruguayan means Brendan Rodgers has failed one of his key challenges for the summer. The Merseysiders need to replace their star man with a player of at least comparable quality, avoiding the scatter-gun approach taken by Tottenham Hotspur when spending the proceeds of Gareth Bale’s transfer to Real Madrid last year. Adam Lallana and Emre Can won’t replace the 31 goals and 12 assists Suarez racked up last season alone.
Have Barcelona, ahem, bitten off more than they can chew? Suarez’s on-field problems are well documented, something the Catalans refer to somewhat euphemistically as a “strong competitive spirit,” but the prospect of a front three containing Suarez, Messi and Neymar is frightening if Luis Enrique can get them to gel. It’s interesting to note that, for all his run-ins with opposition players, Suarez always commanded the greatest of respect and loyalty from his Liverpool teammates.
Perhaps the ultimate beneficiary from all this, though, is Arsenal. One of their Premier League rivals has been weakened and, indirectly, they’ve gained the surplus-to-requirements Alexis Sanchez. Win-win for Wenger.
