Imperative for Liverpool to use Luis Suarez money wisely should he leave

The onus lies on Brendan Rodgers to get a striker capable of replicating Luis Suarez

Meanwhile, Liverpool began to falter in other domains than the club took less attention to. In all due respect to Paul Konchesky and now Jose Enrique, our left back position has been an infirmity for years. Since John Arne Risse hit a slump in his Liverpool career, no player has slotted into left back with enough comfort to showcase. More and more Premier League clubs bought in crafty wingers who exploited our weakness at left back, thereby affirming our downturn to outside the Top 4.

The same can be said about our wings although it has significantly ameliorated now. But what cannot be forgotten was how much the club failed to ensure cohesion in both these positions, which to me, was our first big sign of collapse as a football club. As money was made from transfers out of the club, Liverpool were prioritizing to secure the newfound loopholes but not incentivized enough to seal the earlier ones.

This is essentially why the Suarez transfer that could still be thwarted needs to be handled adroitly. 40 million doesn’t mean all of it goes to buying strikers or attacking options. It could expend wisely towards adding a centre back, bridging the gaps between offense and defense, and at the same time, buying a striker.

A quintessential element to this debate will also be the self-inflated prices Liverpool has paid for several of its players. For a combined £75 million, the club brought in Andy Carroll, Robbie Keane and Alberto Aqualani – none of which have lived up to the price tag.

What is worse is the club has made a staggering loss in selling these players back. And this predicament could repeat itself should Liverpool let go off Stewart Downing, Sebastian Coates and Oussama Assaidi – three players presently considered surplus to requirements at the club.

An evaluation of £40 million for Luis Suarez is justified in today’s bloated transfer market. If any club was to sign him, they could rationally expect a return for the money poured in for the player. But Liverpool will need to be cautious how they handle the money awarded to them. Overpaying just to replace someone urgently shouldn’t be the solution as the consequences of a mismanaged purchase is far worse off than underpaying or correctly paying for a mediocre talent.

Exemplariness of this in the EPL was how Swansea bought Michu to slot in for Glyfi Sigurdsson or how Newcastle replaced Andy Carroll with Papiss Cisse. Liverpool might need to look deeper through the roughs of the continent than being submissive towards preeminent European clubs. This is similar to how the management recently signed Iago Aspas from Celta Vigo or in the past, brought in Sami Hyypia from Willem II Tilburg and Xabi Alonso from Real Sociedad – three clubs not the foremost of contenders in Europe.

Champions League is still a possibility and so is Luis Suarez’s departure, the latter of which is up only for the priciest suitors. As days are counted and minutes tick by, Liverpool and its fans have to accept the imminence of the club’s best player leaving.

The decibel of a fan’s voice might differ in wanting the player to stay or not but Liverpool as an organization, has to move on from a penchant for overpaying and think smart. If the team at L4 is on the rise, it needs to be first certified by how it can handle transfer business – for now that is.