Luis Suárez

[Fredo]

[spider-neil]

With FSG sanctioning a 200K it seems the problem they had (with the huge wage bill) was value for money rather than high wages in itself.

[Shaggy]

With FSG sanctioning a 200K it seems the problem they had (with the huge wage bill) was value for money rather than high wages in itself.

Definitely. And we've cleared a shedload off the bill since they arrived. Things are moving along quite nicely eh.

[Darkon]

Hmm, it's a bit of a balance act between paying to keep and not overpaying just because it might be scary what else will happen. And I'm not much for giving players a new contract every 6 months because they have played well - bit of a spiral to go out at...

But if that is what we need to keep him here, then that's probably good as he has been exceptional this season. And if FSG sanctions the deal as affordable then I have no complaints on that front, just in general a bit weary about the control players are getting over the clubs in footy these days.

But it will defo keep him here over the winter and we need him for the challenge of breaking back in to the top-4 so it could well be an investment worth every penny.

[Pablo]

I don't think £200k a week will be overpaying him, if anything it's slightly underpaying him still. He could get more elsewhere. If I'm honest I think we've underpaid him across the entire time he's been here!

Still I don't think he's that arsed about the money though, he wants to win!

[DeanoUK]

Usually wouldn't be so blasé about wages, but we should throw everything we have at him. He's irreplaceable in his current form. TAKE OUR MONEY.

[TheElephantMan]

It's a lot of money, but it isn't a gamble. In our situation we'd be mad not to offer him a vastly improved contract.

[vlahka]

I hope he bites along the dotted line and stays. Legend

[BigChief]

I hope he bites along the dotted line and stays. Legend

He should bite Ivanovic's hand off.

[Norbs]

If we can add a £100m clause as part of the payrise then we've safeguarded against any cheeky bids. Pays for the salary itself. No brainer.

Indeed

[Kenneth]

So he'll definitely be off if we don't get fourth place after this new deal. Presumably that's the whole point of it, to tighten up the clauses.

[Yozza]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/10524681/Luis-Suarezs-form-has-forced-Liverpool-to-negotiate-a-new-contract-but-why-will-he-commit-to-a-future-at-Anfield.html

Luis Suárez's form has forced Liverpool to negotiate a new contract, but why will he commit to a future at Anfield?

Liverpool break standard practice by attempting to tie a player to the club in mid-season, but Luis Suárez – the third-best player in the world – is an exception

By Chris Bascombe

Talk to anyone about their vision for running a football club and it is only a matter of time before they will talk about the ‘long-term strategy’.

It's that promised land at some time in the future, of no fixed point, where all those years of diligence behind the scenes will yield its rewards.

Long-term strategies are a brazen attempt to minimise too much scrutiny of what’s going on in the present, as if a shocking performance today is of no particular consequence when considering where the club will be in a few years.

All too often, that golden tomorrow never comes. Football is broadly about seizing the moment, reflex reactions to rapidly changing circumstances.

“You can plan for success but you can’t guarantee it,” former Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry used to say. The pursuit of slow, steady progress requires more patience and risk than the quick fix.

Liverpool’s current owners, Fenway Sports Group, have always been advocates of a gradual, incremental rise to the summit, but they are currently engaged in what can only be seen as a necessary and welcome impulsive response to a circumstance unforeseeable six months ago.

John W. Henry knows when a nettle is there to be grasped and that’s precisely what he is doing by sanctioning Luis Suárez's contract negotiations.
Liverpool have been in discussions with Suárez’s representatives for a few weeks, talks which moved on at some pace when managing director Ian Ayre flew to Barcelona to meet agent Pere Guardiola on Tuesday.

You can see this as all part of the carefully orchestrated master plan to reward Suárez 28 months before his current deal runs out if you wish, but it is much more a vigorous response to the extraordinary events since his return from suspension. It would be a disservice to the Liverpool hierarchy to see this in routine terms.

By instinct, Henry and Fenway Sports Group are reluctant to enter contract negotiations with players or staff midseason, seeing it as unnecessary distraction.
If a player is performing to his potential and appears in no need of motivation, why rush to give him and extra £50,000 a week? Their previous policy has been to wait until the closed season.

Suárez is exceptional on and off the pitch.

There was trepidation when he returned after his ten-game ban given the discontent he’d expressed in the intervening period.

Would he be so committed? Would the Liverpool supporters so swiftly forgive a player who wanted to join Arsenal who – for all their fine football – have won nothing for so long?

We knew Suárez was a genius, but his performances have bewildered. Liverpool want to finish fourth, but if they keep him they’ll be aiming much higher. In the emphasis on the glory of reaching a Champions League qualifier, we often forget Liverpool actually want to win their sixth European Cup not just enter the competition. You don’t get close by selling the third best player in the world.

Liverpool sense an opportunity to avoid the trauma of last summer should Real Madrid or Bayern Munich realise they made a serious misjudgement by not bidding £70 million six months ago. It is inevitable they will receive phone calls about Suárez in the next month and he will certainly be top of every wishlist by the World Cup.

Liverpool have long argued they have the resources to match any of those clubs. While that has been interpreted as the ability to compete in the transfer market – something patently untrue at the moment – that claim had more to do with how much the club invests on players’ salaries (and agents fees, but that’s another column). Liverpool have the capacity to offer Suárez a contract that would make him a top earner not only in the club’s history, but comparable with anyone in the Premier League.

The problem is they know a financial reward is only part of the deal. Suárez wants what the club currently can’t guarantee.

He is 26 and can’t wait for the Champions League any longer, no matter how loved he is at Anfield.

If Liverpool miss out again, no supporter will begrudge him should he publicly ask to be sold (although they will want a Gareth Bale-size fee for him).

Can Suárez really tie himself down before the end of this season, and run the risk of no Champions League – or worse still having to play in the Europa League – again?

Thus far, the negotiations are said to have included some encouraging days and those not so encouraging. It is to be expected. Most likely, it will be January or February, when the erratic league table has some semblance of stability, Suárez may feel more confident Liverpool will be in the top four in May.

If he signs before then, the suspicion will linger it would be little more than a temporary pay-rise, with clauses inserted to ensure Liverpool get the fee they expect and Suárez can depart without animosity.

Liverpool want to publicise any agreement as much more than that. They want to keep Suárez for the prime of his career and avoid any such clauses.
Supporters and commentators often use the phrase ‘knee-jerk’ in relation to football clubs as a means of criticism.

What Liverpool’s reaction to Suárez’s performances and state of mind proves is getting that patella jigging when the opportunity arises – in good times and bad – is a compulsion for any sharp chief executive, managing director and owner.

The ‘long-term’ plan needs the protection and sustenance of a rapid response unit. It is the here and now that gets the pulse racing. ‘Carpe Diem’ as they say in Latin class.
Thanks to Suárez, Liverpool’s studious owners are engaging in some of the most desirable knee-jerking of their reign. If they get Suárez to pen new terms, it will be the most important signing since Kenny Dalglish himself arrived from Celtic.

[baitman]

a massive wage for suarez is kind of sensible. i reckon he would have been staying till the summer anyway. if the new 200k? contract then ties him to us unless we get an 80-100m offer then its win win.

i reckon we will sneak CL football for next year. will this be enough to make suarez stay... who knows. he might then feel he has done his bit for us and we then owe him his freedom to move. at least he could then part on friendly terms.

Q; why does brendan always refer to luis [lew-ees] as louis [lou-ie]

[Rich]

He's operating at such a level that in European football's crazy current market he's good value for £200k/week.

If he signs and there is a release clause then so be it, Ayre just has to ensure a fair market value for him.

Suarez doesn't appear to be driven by money but the club still needs to respect his status as one of the world's best, his remuneration should reflect this.

[Baracus]

Based on 200k p/w Is he worth £15-20m in gross wages to the club and brand every year in the current climate.


Yes.