A few words on Liverpool and Luis Suarez’ transfer value

So what is Luis Suarez’ value at Liverpool?

The exact number remains very much unclear. But according to Reds manager Brendan Rodgers, no one has offered anything close to the striker’s value.

When asked if he expected Suarez to be at the club this season, Rodgers answered, “Yes, very much so.” The manager continued:

There’s been a lot of speculation over the course of the close season but the reality is that he’s a player who is very much valued at Liverpool and unless there’s any sort of offer that comes in that’s anywhere near his value, there’s nothing to consider.

In other words, the $46 million (£30m) that Arsenal is confirmed to have tabled was not even in Liverpool’s ball-park. And from the sounds of it, the $53.5 million (£35m) improved bid that Arsenal was reported to be making, won’t give Liverpool pause either.

Last week Suarez’s agent, Pere Guardiola, the brother of Bayern manager Pep, put his two cents in the valuation game saying that any clubs interested in his client should make a $61.3 million (£40m) bid, which “would effectively trigger his release.”

If ‘effectively’ triggering a release sounds odd to you, you’re not alone. Release clauses are typically quite straight forward - hit the number and the player is yours. But apparently Liverpool and Guardiola view the subject clause as meaning different things.

For Liverpool, the clause does not trigger a direct release, rather it means that at $61.3 million (£40m) they only have to listen to offers for Suarez. The general consensus is that the club won’t budge on selling the player until a cool $76.6 million (£50m) is laid down on the table.

Which reminds me, it’s worth noting that thus far, only a single club has bid on Suarez: Arsenal.

Bids aside, Suarez has barely even been linked to other clubs. Any buzz regarding his moving to Real Madrid has been from Suarez himself as Los Blancos appear content in re-signing their current supplies and poking holes in the Gareth Bale situation.

The fact that Arsenal is the only club with a demonstrated interest - which conspiracy theorists believe could merely be a ploy to force Madrid’s hand into completing the prolonged deal for striker Gonzalo Higuain - is quite significant.

To buy Suarez the Gunners would not only have to break their own transfer record, they’d have to absolutely demolish it. The record fee the North London club has paid out is a paltry $23 million (£15m), paid for Andrei Arshavin in 2009.

The idea that monetarily and socially conservative Arsenal would smash that record by an amount between $38.3 million and $53.6 million for a player of questionable moral standing is, well, preposterous.

Bottom line, Luis Suarez is staying at Liverpool.