Luis Suarez's Real Madrid move edges closer as Liverpool eye Spain starlet Alvaro Morata as makeweight
Luis Suarez's Real Madrid move edges closer as Liverpool eye Spain starlet Alvaro Morata as makeweight
Liverpool ready to listen to offers for Uruguay frontman as
they line up transfer targets starting with Sunderland 'keeper Simon
Mignolet
Luis Suarez has again been talking up a move to Madrid
Michael Regan
Luis Suarez will get his wish to join Real Madrid – but only if the
Spanish giants sweeten the deal with one of their most promising
youngsters.
Liverpool are now ready to listen to offers for their wantaway striker,
but have made clear they will not budge a penny below the £40million
clause built into the Uruguayan’s contract that triggers a transfer.
Madrid
have consistently maintained they will not go to that figure for a
player who cost the Reds £24m a little over two seasons ago.
Now the Anfield club
are ready to offer an intriguing compromise after Suarez again made
clear his desire to leave this weekend when he said the Premier League
side HAVE to listen to his demands.
Suarez once again heaped praise on Real Madrid to help engineer his move from Anfield to Bernabeu.
In
interviews with Spanish newspapers, the controversial forward
reiterated his love for the Spanish giants and talked about his life in
England.
Asked what he would bring to Real Madrid, Suarez
declared: “I would give my soul every time I step on the pitch. I have
done this with Uruguay, Ajax and Liverpool.
“It disturbs me that
Liverpool are not in the Champions League and fighting for the Premier
League which is where they should be.”
Talking about his desire to leave Liverpool for Madrid, Suarez also said:
“The
word of the player is important – if you need a change, you should
listen to the player. If I want to sign for another club, Liverpool have
to hear the offer. All I ask is for respect for all the things that
have been said.”
With the player making his desire to leave so
obvious, Liverpool have little option to now get the best deal they can
for an unsettled player who has a history of troublemaking to get his
way... he once went on strike to engineer a move to Ajax.
And they
have identified the top scorer at this summer’s European Under-21
Championship Alvaro Morata as a possible makeweight in any deal to
ensure they get the full value for the player. Real deal: The Reds will only play ball if they can secure Madrid starlet Alvaro Morata as part of the deal
Angel Martinez
Morata has been one of the stars of the tournament, his four
goals steering Spain to a final showdown with Italy, and confirming his
huge talent that has already seen him make 18 appearances for Real
Madrid at the tender age of 20.
And crucially, he has already
bluntly stated he will be forced to leave the Bernabeu this summer if
they sign ANY more strikers to block his path to the first team... and
with both Suarez and Edinson Cavani on their shopping list, that is
virtually certain.
Speaking before his goal in the Euro semis
steered Spain into the final, he said: “If another striker is brought
in, I will have to think about what’s best for me and consider leaving.
If I go, I would prefer a move abroad.”
Intriguingly, Liverpool MD
Ian Ayre was due to jet out to Brazil this weekend for a business trip
that would undoubtedly have included showdown talks with Suarez, who is
in the country representing Uruguay in the Confederations Cup, where
they played Spain last night.
But he has cancelled the journey to
spend the week at Anfield where he is expected to conclude a flurry of
deals over the coming week... and begin the arduous process of
negotiating with Madrid.
Given Suarez’s latest comments, there was
little point in Ayre jetting out to speak to him, and instead he will
negotiate with Sunderland over their highly regarded keeper Simon
Mignolet.
Liverpool entered talks over the player last night, with
an opening offer of around £7m for the Belgian international, while the
Black Cats are understood to be sticking at their valuation of £10m.
With
Pepe Reina likely to confirm his move to Barcelona for a similar fee
within the next week, Ayre will press through talks to land his
replacement, with a compromise figure of around £9m expected. The Kop cat: Simon Mignolet looks set to become Liverpool's new 'keeper
Getty
He will also open negotiations today with Shaktar Donetsk for
their talented midfield playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, for a fee of
around £20m for the Armenian international who has attracted the
interest of all Europe’s top clubs.
He is Liverpool’s number one
target and the club is determined to beat the likes of Juventus and
Chelsea to his signature, explaining Ayre’s presence in England.
The
Anfield club are also likely to confirm deals for promising Spanish
pair Iago Aspas of Celta Vigo, and Sevilla’s Luis Alberto.
The £6m
deal for Aspas is already agreed, and the hitch over paperwork after a
complaint from the player’s original agent is likely to be sorted within
the next few days.
And Liverpool reached an agreement with
Sevilla to buy 20-year-old Alberto at the weekend, with the fee again
thought to be around the £6m mark, and he will sign a four-year contract
later this week.
That will bring Liverpool’s spending to an
impressive £42m in the space of a few days, and they will begin the
process of recouping that figure with confirmation of Andy Carroll’s
move to West Ham for £15m, and the start of talks with Madrid for
Suarez. Luis Suarez Q&A with El Pas: Are you afraid of the chance to play for Real Madrid?
No, I have never felt pressure, but obviously that doesn’t mean I’m going. I am a Liverpool player. What would a player like you give to a team like Real Madrid?
I’d
give my soul in every match as I do every time I set foot on the pitch,
be that for Uruguay, Ajax or Liverpool. I never hold anything back. Do you have an agreement with Real Madrid?
No, I have a contract with Liverpool. Would you like to have an agreement with Real Madrid?
A
player always aspires to the top, and Madrid are always one of the
highest ambitions for any footballer. Every player would love to get to
the absolute top and Real Madrid is it. But, do you know what it is like
to represent Liverpool? Fernando Torres said that you have to set foot on the Anfield turf to understand.
It
makes
the hair stand up on the back of my neck to think about it... It is a
big club on a global level, but we didn’t qualify for the Champions
League nor did we fight for the Premier League, which is where the club
has to be. And the club knows that I have suffered and struggled with
what I have had in the Press.
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