Luis Suarez jets in to heart-to-heart talks on Liverpool future

Posted Saturday, July 20, 2013 by The Sun

LIVERPOOL will hold heart-to-heart talks with Luis Suarez in Melbourne.

And they hope to end any doubts over his future by the time they leave Australia next week.

Suarez is due to fly in from Montevideo tomorrow and link up with the Reds when they arrive from Jakarta — where they play an Indonesian XI this afternoon.

It will be the first chance boss Brendan Rodgers and managing director Ian Ayre have had for first-hand conversations with the South American since it was revealed he wanted to leave. Rodgers has had phone and text discussions with Suarez, who wants to join a club in the Champions League.

The Kop manager is still confident Suarez will stay, although it also hands the Uruguay striker his first chance to reveal face-to-face that he wants to go.

A clause in his terms means Liverpool must inform him of any bids hitting £40million.

So far Arsenal are the only serious bidders with their £35m offer swiftly knocked back.

Kop top brass insist they do not have to sell as the player has three years left on his deal.

And Rodgers revealed it could take the same £55m fee Paris Saint-Germain paid for Edinson Cavani before they would even entertain doing business.

With Real Madrid — Suarez’s No 1 choice — waiting in the wings, the Reds’ resolve will be put to the test.

Yet the Spaniards would have to move long before the September 2 deadline, as Anfield chiefs are adamant they do not want to be left with no time to find a replacement.

Liverpool’s power brokers are equally aware they need to land a marquee signing to convince Suarez their ambitions match his. But the lack of Champions League football is an obstacle for Rodgers.

Armenian winger Henrikh Mkhitaryan snubbed the Kop to join Borussia Dortmund from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Rodgers admitted: “I’m sure good players still want to come to this club but if you are not in the Champions League, that naturally makes it tougher.”

Keeper Pepe Reina has agreed to join his former Kop boss Rafa Benitez at Napoli on a season-long loan.

The Italians will pay his £110,000 wages taking almost £5.5m off the Anfield wage bill.

Rookie Danny Ward, 22, is flying to Melbourne to join the rest of the squad as back-up to new signing Simon Mignolet and Brad Jones.