Why Liverpool will have to sell themselves short
As the nation continues to be gripped by relentless speculation linking Gareth Bale to Madrid, the future of a certain Liverpool favourite has remained largely in the background. With continued reports suggesting that Luis Suarez wants to leave Liverpool, is the £40m fee being mooted short of his value?
Sky Sports have already reported that an offer is on the table for around the £85m should Spurs wish to accept it. Contrast this to the £40,000,001 offer made for Suarez from Premier League rivals Arsenal. Is Suarez really worth less than half that of Gareth Bale?
It has subsequently emerged that the bid for Suarez was swiftly rejected after a misunderstanding over a potential release clause. An internal contract dispute between Suarez and club has ended with Liverpool standing firm over the non-existence of a release clause. The figure to capture the Uruguayan is now believed to be nearer the £55m mark, the value Liverpool has placed on the striker.
Still a £30m difference in value seems a huge gulf for two players who are arguably similar in terms of quality. I actually believe were it not for his on pitch behaviour, Luis Suarez would quite likely have claimed both the PFA and Football Writers gongs last term and as such eclipsed the achievements of Gareth Bale. Suarez is probably more integral to Liverpool’s hopes and ambitions than Gareth Bale is to Spurs’. As such the club should look to extract maximum value from any prospective sale.
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So why does the gulf in value exist?
Both players are reportedly intent on a move away if you are to believe Sky Sports understanding of the respective situations. Similarly both plays have a substantial amount of time to run on their current contracts. So would accepting a £50m bid be financially naïve from Liverpool?
Sadly I don’t think this is the case at all. The difference between Suarez and Bale is what they bring off the pitch rather than their contributions on it. Bale is a shy unassuming Welsh lad who appears to be incredibly marketable having developed something of a brand for himself already. Contrast this to a racist come cannibal who constantly brings shame upon the club that has placed so much faith in him.
When Real bid £85m for Bale they know that in footballing terms he is work a fraction of that sum. Big money deals in modern football are as much about the publicity and media attention as it is about the quality of the footballer. The same was true of the deal to take Ronaldo to the Bernabeu: an undoubted star of the game, but £80m for him? Really? The transfer was prudent from a Madrid perspective because of the furore that came with it. Shirt sales and media deals are now genuine considerations for a purchasing club.
Ramon Calderon, the ex Madrid President, spoke to TalkSport last night and was actually quite telling in this respect. Asked whether the deal to bring Neymar to the Camp Nou would have any impact on a potential deal for Bale and he definitively answered that it would. Real Madrid need to make a big name deal to assert their national authority, and purchasing Bale for an overinflated price will do exactly that. The extra baggage that comes with a deal for Suarez in the eyes of a prospective buyer makes a deal less palatable.
It would be short-sighted to believe his Premier League ban would enable clubs to knock £20m off his price tag, because it shouldn’t. However, the character of the Uruguayan and fears that reoccurrences of the past could occur make a big money bid for the striker unlikely.
For Liverpool going forward this means that they will always end up getting less than the players true footballing worth. I severely doubt Arsenal will stump up £55m for Suarez, I think an improvement on their current bid is pretty unlikely as well. Liverpool fans may see this as a positive, with FSG unlikely to entertain bids below the £40m mark, they could therefore hold onto their star man for another year yet. However, in a financial sense it is a great shame for Liverpool that purchasing clubs will always undervalue Suarez, even as a player of such exceptional talent. The question for Liverpool is whether to hold on to Suarez against his apparent will and prepare for more of his non-footballing antics, or to sell him below his actual value.
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For Liverpool this is the kind of decision that could well determine the way their near future plays out. Whilst £40m is a lot of money for any club, there will always be the nagging thought that he should be worth more.
Should Liverpool sell themselves short for £40m?
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