Liverpool want £50m for Luis Suarez as striker talks up switch

Liverpool will look to match the £50m they received from Chelsea for Fernando Torres if Luis Suarez pushes through his move to Real Madrid.

Suarez has this week repeatedly spoke about his future – principally his desire to leave Anfield this summer – due to what the player describes as not being ‘comfortable’ at the club anymore.

Suarez’s recent 10-game ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic is what the Uruguayan calls ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’, having previously picked up an eight-game ban for racist abuse towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.

However Liverpool are holding firm – publicly at least – over their determination to keep the 26-year-old and are insisting his suitors Real Madrid pay £50 million for his services.

Initially reports claimed that Suarez had a £40m release clause in his contract, but recent speculation has seen this claim denied.

What is known, however, is that the Reds have been angered by their number seven’s comments, which emerged from his homeland during a press conference.

“Luis Suarez is not for sale,” a club statement said, responding to the media furore over his future. “Neither he nor his representatives have communicated these feelings directly to the club.”

The quotes which have left Liverpool in such a compromising position, were, Suarez claims, a direct result of his treatment by the media in England.

“I don’t feel comfortable in England any more,” the former Ajax star said.

“It is a difficult moment for me. My coach and my colleagues know that they [the British media] didn’t treat me well. Because of the paparazzi I could not go in my garden, I could not go to the supermarket. The straw that broke the camel’s back was my mistake.”

“I haven’t spoken to Real Madrid or Liverpool and my agent hasn’t said anything to me. In England I’m in the best league in the world, but the Spanish is on a par.”

While it appears obvious that Suarez wants to leave the Premier League, a move to Real Madrid could prove complicated.

Bernabeu president Florentino Perez is going all out this summer to sign £60m Tottenham star Gareth Bale, and may find a tug-of-war with Liverpool over the South American not a necessary part of his election manifesto.

The Merseyside club are also holding firm for at least the £50m paid by Chelsea for Torres, as Liverpool try to extract as much as they can from another exiting goalscorer.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.