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Barcelona. — Liverpool have taken the first steps to make Luis Suarez the highest-paid player in their history after they flew to Barcelona to begin talks with his agent.
Ian Ayre, Liverpool’s managing director, met Pere Guardiola — the brother of Bayern Munich manager Pep — in Catalonia on Tuesday to talk about Suarez extending and improving his terms, which are now in the region of £100 000 per week.
Suarez extended his contract in August 2012. It runs until June 2016.
And the Uruguay international has proved, with 17 goals in 12 Barclays Premier League games this season, that he is one of the top performers in the world and Liverpool are anxious to reward him — and keep him out of the arms of rivals.
If Suarez agrees to a deal that would take him past Steven Gerrard in Liverpool’s earning list, it would complete a remarkable journey. He was angling for a move to a Champions League club in August and accused Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers of “breaking promises” by not letting him leave.
Suarez (26) trained on his own while he served a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, but returned to the line-up at Sunderland on September 29, made peace with Rodgers and has not put a foot wrong since.
He was named Football Supporters’ Federation Player of the Year on Monday, 24 hours after captaining Liverpool, and said: “It’s important that we stay together, we keep going. It’s important for me, but more important for the club.”
Meanwhile, former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann claims the club need a long-term commitment from the Uruguayan in order to stave off approaches from Europe’s top club next summer.
“What must not happen is we have a situation next summer as we had last summer,” said the German, a Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005.
“He could sign a new contract now, take the £200 000 a week, the team finishes outside the top four and you have the same shenanigans. I want him to stay but there needs to be clarity. He has got to understand what it means to commit.
“If there is a clause that he can go for £60 million, £80 million and someone pays it, that is obviously fair enough, but you can’t have a situation again like you had last summer.” — Mailonline.
Online Reporter