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Luis Suarez has made no attempts to hide his desire to move away from Liverpool. Real Madrid is his preferred destination, and there has been interest from England as well with Arsenal and Chelsea apparently keen to sign him. Bayern Munich and Napoli might also enter the race to sign Suarez at some stage.
Brendan Rodgers and Ian Ayre have stressed that Suarez is not for sale and that they hope that he’ll be at the club next season. However, there’s no denying that Liverpool will be bracing themselves for the possibility of having to sell their star striker, and will be having a list of probable replacements with them.
Let us have a look at five players who Liverpool can sign to replace Suarez:
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1. Gonzalo Higuain
The 25-year-old Argentine international has been widely tipped with a move away from Real Madrid in this summer transfer window. Arsenal have shown an interest in signing him, but have been unable to reach an agreement with Madrid.
If rumours are to be believed, Madrid have been lining up a player-plus-cash bid involving Higuain and Suarez. Considering Higuain’s impressive record at Madrid and Suarez’s wish to move away, Rodgers might be tempted to accept the deal.
The Argentine, who scored 16 La Liga goals despite making just 19 starts last season, can be a perfect replacement for Suarez, and will enjoy playing regular first-team football at Liverpool.
2. Xherdan Shaqiri
Though not a like-for-like replacement for Suarez, Shaqiri might be heading Liverpool’s way if Bayern Munich bid for Suarez in a player-plus-cash exchange. Bayern will be on the lookout for a striker after selling Mario Gomez to Fiorentina and after being unable to sign Robert Lewandowski from Dortmund. Suarez’s agent Pere Guardiola is the brother of Pep Guardiola, the Bayern manager, and this might clinch the deal in Bayern’s favour.
Brendan Rodgers is known to be an admirer of the 21-year-old Swiss international and will want to sign him after missing out on Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Shaqiri is young, versatile and technically strong, and is capable of playing on either flank of a front-three. He will fit perfectly in the Liverpool setup that Rodgers has developed.
3. Luis Muriel
The young 22-year-old Colombian, who currently plays for Udinese, has been linked with a move to Liverpool. Renowned for his brilliant ball control and dribbling, Muriel can play as a striker or an attacking midfielder.
Nicknamed the ‘Colombian Ronaldo’ after the Brazilian legend, Muriel will add much-needed firepower to Liverpool’s attack with his lethal finishing and blistering pace in case Suarez leaves.
Liverpool expect the transfer fee to purchase Muriel to be around £15 million.
4. Erik Lamela
Yet another talented Argentinian forward, 21-year-old Lamela plays for AS Roma. Blessed with superb ball control and dribbling ability, Lamela primarily plays on the right flank and cuts inside on his cultured left-foot. He has a decent goal scoring record, having scored 15 goals in 33 appearances in the last season.
Lamela has been linked with Liverpool, who believe that a bid of around £20 million will be sufficient to convince Roma to part with the player.
5. Christian Benteke
The Belgian striker, who had a very impressive debut season in the Premier League with Aston Villa, is available in the market after having put in a transfer request. Villa value him at £25 million, and with many clubs interested in buying him, they should be able to get a figure in that range by selling him.
22-year-old Benteke prefers being played as a centre forward, and is a good finisher with excellent heading ability. He impressed everyone at Liverpool with his performance at Anfield last season.
Liverpool might move to sign Benteke to replace Suarez, but are likely to get stiff competition for his signature from the likes of Spurs and Arsenal.
Conclusion
Liverpool will have to decide if they want to keep an unhappy and sulking Suarez in the team for the next season, and probably see his value diminish for the future transfer markets, or sell him now at a price close to what they value him at.
If Suarez is indeed sold, then it will be essential to replace him efficiently in the team to ensure that there are no roadblocks to the progress of the project being carried out by Brendan Rodgers. Someone like Higuain or Shaqiri will add a lot of quality to the team, and Liverpool should seriously consider the option of a player-plus-cash exchange for Suarez with Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
As was seen in the case of Mkhitaryan, attracting top talent will be difficult for Liverpool due to regular absence from Champions League football in recent times. The money that will be potentially generated from the sale of Suarez should be utilized prudently, and not wasted like it was when Torres was sold.
