Liverpool Transfers: DONE DEAL - Suarez Joins Barcelona For €88m

By Simon Gallagher / July 10, 2014

TwitterAfter one of the most public flirtations in Premier League history, it seems that Luis Suarez - he of biting opponents and frustratingly wasted potential - has finally joined Spanish giants Barcelona in a deal that will net his former club Liverpool £70m, or ‚88m in new money. The move comes just six months after Suarez decided against moving away from the Anfield side amidst well-publicised interest from Arsenal, who put in a cheeky bid they thought would activate his transfer release clause, making themselves clowns in the process. The striker had initially wanted to move away from Liverpool last summer, when Arsenal offered their now infamous £40m plus £1 deal, but he subsequently revealed he wanted to stay in the "best league there is":

"I think we can achieve what we set out to do. My aim is just to help make the team better. My job is just to score the goals that mean we keep winning games and get as high in the table as possible."

Clearly a lot can change in six months, and perhaps his recent encounter with Giorgio Chiellini gave him a taste of what it might be like to play in a different top league in Europe... Liverpool have already began their summer building process, with Brendan Rodgers focused on taking his team into four competitions, and he will now see his options open considerably with the Suarez money burning a hole in his pocket. Naturally of course he now has to re-enter a market that knows exactly how much money he has to spend to bring in more signings to follow Emre Can, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana, which will no doubt add significant amounts to any price-tags he might be looking at. Barcelona will help fund the move by selling Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal, while Liverpool will look to reinvest those funds on targets that could potentially include Benfica winger Lazar Markovic, Lille striker Divock Origi and Southampton defender Dejan Lovren - with new reports that Real Madrid's Karim Benzema may have leapt to the front of the queue for consideration as a replacement for Suarez. Meanwhile Liverpool have apparently refused to offer refunds to fans who weren't put off the idea of having Suarez's name on the back of their shirts even despite his World Cup transgressions, and apparently ignored the wide media reports that his move away from the club was all but guaranteed. Suarez now faces potential legal action from a collection of Italian unions, disgusted with his bite on Chiellini and intent on protecting the rights of Italian users and consumers.