Despite persistent talk about his future all summer, Luis Suarez remained a Liverpool player for the foreseeable future as the transfer window closed on Monday night.
Although it looked like the Uruguayan would be leaving Liverpool throughout the close season, with Real Madrid and Arsenal heavily linked as his preferred destinations, interest seemed to dry up as both clubs turned their attentions elsewhere to capture Gareth Bale and Mesut Ozil respectively in world and club-record deals.
Despite a very public and unambiguous affair, Suarez insisted he made up his mind to stay at Anfield “weeks ago” when asked by reporters in Montevideo as he arrived to join up with the Uruguay squad. He said: “For, me, it has been closed for some time. I made the decision to stay at Liverpool some weeks ago, and I want to stay and work for the team from now on.
“I will go back to Liverpool to play, and I hope to be the same player the fans can trust.
“I said I wanted to play in the Champions League, but when that didn’t happen, I knew I’d be happy with life to have my future at Liverpool.”
While keeping Suarez is arguably the best business manager Brendan Rodgers did over the summer, the Liverpool manager added three new faces to the club on deadline day. Chelsea winger Victor Moses joined on a season-long loan and was followed by defenders Mamadou Sakho from Paris St Germain, and Tiago Ilori from Sporting Lisbon for a combined £20m-plus.
Speaking to liverpoolfc.com, Rodgers expressed his delight at the club’s dealings. He said: “I’m obviously very pleased. The window this summer has been very productive for us. Sakho who we’ve brought in was probably a surprise for many people because he was highly rated at PSG and a French international player.
“With the likes of him and Tiago Ilori, we’ve got one eye on now of course – you have to have a sense of the present and what we’ve got here are some really good centre-halves – but we’re trying to build something here. Those two players, especially Sakho, can play in the team now, but we’ve got one eye on the future as well.
“I’ve been aware of Victor for a long time and know his qualities. He’s the type of offensive player I like – he’s got terrific skill with the ball, is a wonderful technician and can go left side or right side. The crowd will love him because he wants to beat players, but he also has a real work ethic to him.”
Elsewhere the current Premier League leaders said goodbye to Dani Pacheco, who has joined Spanish Second Division side AD Alcorcon on a permanent deal, as well as Fabio Borini who joined Sunderland on a season-long loan.