Liverpool Transfer News: Reds Can Ill Afford to Lose Luis Suarez

There's much work to be done—and much change in store—at Anfield after Liverpool's disappointing eighth-place finish in the English Premier League.

But if there's any one player whom the Reds should make every effort to keep, it's Luis Suarez.

Yes, the same Luis Suarez who drew an eight-game ban from the FA for abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra with racial epithets. The same Luis Suarez who rewarded the support of his manager and his teammates by refusing to shake Evra's hand upon his return and bringing even more disgrace to one of England's most venerable football institutions.

Yes, that Luis Suarez.

Say what you will about Luisito as a person, but there's no denying his impact as a player on the pitch for Liverpool. The 25-year-old Uruguay international scored 17 goals and chipped in 11 assists across all competitions for the Reds, who claimed the Carling Cup and reached the FA Cup final. Too often, he was the sole creative force at Kenny Dalglish's disposal on a squad littered with overpaid plodders.

King Kenny may have been done in by the failures of Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing on Merseyside, but, at the very least, he can hang his hat on Suarez's success.

Whether Fenway Sports Group will do the same remains to be seen. According to The Daily Mail, Suarez has not been in contact with Real Madrid or Barcelona, contrary to the rumblings of the rumor mill, as he told The Liverpool Daily Post:

"Being honest, I have never talked to anyone from Barca or Real Madrid. If the rumours are to be believed I would have already played for 20 teams."

That should come as some relief to Tom Werner and company back in Boston, though that shouldn't keep them from acting decisively to replace the since-sacked Dalglish and giving his replacement the rein and reassurance to reshape the roster as he sees fit.

That is, so long as Luisito has a prominent role in all of it. He's one of the most feared forwards in all of England, if not the world and is a talent around which a title contender can and should be constructed.

Barring any further race rows, of course.

But if "reconstruction" truly is the operative word in Liverpool this summer, then the Reds would be wise to institute Suarez as the first (and most prominent) building block.

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