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Before starting on Luis Suarez, let’s reflect on a few top transfers (forwards) this summer. Just to provide the contrast between varying prices for players:
Juventus – Fernando Llorente (Free) and Carlos Tevez (11.8m euros)
Monaco – Radamel Falcao (60m euros)
PSG – Edinson Cavani (64.3m euros)
Borussia Dortmund – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (13m euros)
Agreed there is a huge gulf in class between Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Edinson Cavani but still, the amount of money shelled out for Falcao and Cavani is huge.
There are teams which buy good quality strikers for decent value. Juventus is a top European team which had one glaring weakness last season – lack of a top quality striker. Juventus had Nicklas Bendtner in their ranks last season. That itself shows they really were in need of a good striker.
The whole of Europe knew Juventus were in desperate search for a quality forward, and that Juventus could be forced to pay a heavy price for landing him. But full credit to Juventus for picking strikers of Llorente and Tevez’s caliber for nuggets, really (yes, we know that Llorente was a free agent and Tevez was having tough times at Manchester City).
That’s a lesson on how transfers are managed.
This brings us to the all-important question: how much is Luis Suarez really worth? If we look purely from Liverpool‘s perspective, Suarez is the one and only player that can get Liverpool back to the Champions league.
In this sense Suarez is an indispensable asset. If Suarez leaves, then other players might follow suit and top players might not come to Liverpool as the club cannot offer Champions League football.
Liverpool could end up being a feeder club for Europe’s other top teams. It can all end up so very badly.
Now talking about the interested party, Arsenal. The Gunners like most other European teams also need a good lead striker (yes, Suarez may not be a pure lead striker but let us keep that discussion for some other time). Suarez is an elite forward at the top of his game and Arsenal do not lack creativity by any means.
He seems to be a fit but really Suarez is more of a creator rather than a finisher. His overall impact at Arsenal might really not be as much as the 40 million Arsenal is willing to pay. Arsenal need a striker like Higuain or Ba or Soldado: someone who is a finisher and can lead the line.
That was the absolute intention when Arsenal signed Olivier Giroud from Montpellier a year back but it does look that Giroud might take his own sweet time to get accustomed to Premier League and his consistency is a big question mark.
And last but not the least, Mr. Suarez himself. Is this transfer saga worth the shift in class? Maybe not. Arsenal still will not be true championship contenders. And Suarez might remain trophy-less at Arsenal like many others before him.
Suarez should hold out for a better offer from teams across Europe. He is good enough to play for most of the championship contender teams in Europe. All that is on the line is maybe a year of Champions League football.
Suarez’s worth for different teams is different. For Liverpool he is an indispensable asset but for Arsenal maybe a 40 million tag is a bit too much. Arsenal do have options who can fit better and cost less.
Logic dictates that they should try their luck with other strikers like Ba or Soldado. Let’s hope that the teams work out a nice way so that we, the fans, can enjoy more nail-biting action.
