Liverpool should make the call on Suarez now, rather than later

There are other issues that need to be on top of the management’s heads. Liverpool’s recent history in sealing transfer deals isn’t exactly bright. This summer, the club lost out on bagging Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s signature and in 2012, the debacles involved in snagging Clint Dempsey and Glyfi Sigurdsson coveted enough headlines.

If Suarez is to leave a couple of weeks before the deadline ends, the greater probability is that the management may not even have suitable talents to choose from. Players are avowing in a hurry to sign for clubs in the Champions League and Liverpool’s inability to feature prominently in Europe could deeply hurt any chance the club has in landing last minute pursuits.

If a replacement is sought in the coming days rather than in August, the odds are that Brendan Rodgers can find a striker with as much or almost as much of the talent that Luis Suarez possesses. The player could even adapt to the club’s formation and tactics with adequate game time during pre-season friendlies. But as the clock keeps ticking, Liverpool just might have to resort to playing with the likes of Iago Aspas, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Alberto – none within the behemoth of Luis Suarez’s dexterity.

The sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid was a killer blow

Rodgers will further learn how the club’s fortunes in the transfer market at the beginning of this decade were appalling. That is something the manager has to seriously ponder, considering Liverpool’s summer transfer budgets then were backed with as much influx of cash as there is now. Those transfers too, happened in late July or early August, just about when this Luis Suarez saga seems destined to end.

A crucial difference between the ill-fated transfers then and the current hunt to find Luis Suarez’s replacement will be the indelible void left behind by the Uruguayan. It can be argued that once Xabi Alonso left the Reds, they eventuated into a downfall and the Mascherano transfer only aggravated the plight.

But if Luis Suarez were to leave Liverpool this summer, the club’s management will need to search as astutely as possible and with perhaps more vigour to land an appropriate replacement. Alonso at his peak was a midfielder with boundless panache and Javier Mascherano’s presence on the turf helped Steven Gerrard flourish in the No. 10 role.

Luis Suarez, however, is on the heels of being a top 5 player in the world today. More importantly, the Reds are beginning to work on their ascent back into the EPL’s elite and losing him would unquestionably halter their progress. This, in retrospect, could hurt the club and its players, more psychologically than financially – perhaps as much if not more than the club did by letting go of Alonso or Mascherano.

Only a loyal football fan knows what it means to staunchly believe that the club is greater than the player. For the past several weeks, Suarez has proven himself to be the opposite. If he stays, he will have a massive job on his hands of regaining the fans’ respect but for now, his heart lies elsewhere. And if Liverpool wants to make the final call like they always fancy themselves to, they better do it sooner than later.