Liverpool have seen an abundance of talent take to the pitch at Anfield over the years, with Jurgen Klopp’s current crop of stars on track to have a successful season after their questionable form last term.
The Reds finished in fifth at the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign, marking their first finish outside of the top-four since 2016, forcing them to settle with Europa League football instead of the Champions League.
The season prior, Klopp led his side to a narrow second-place finish, missing out on their second Premier League title by a single point to Manchester City, however things look to be back on track for the squad.
2023 has seen the price of midfielders inflate dramatically, from Chelsea’s £106.8m capture of Enzo Fernandez in January, to the Blues’ £115m deal to sign Moises Caicedo, which has only made Klopp’s summer business more admirable.
The German recruited Dominik Szoboszlai for £60m and Alexis Mac Allister for £35m early into the window, telling of the strength of the deals as both of the acquisitions continue to impress early into their Anfield careers.
It wouldn’t be the first time that Liverpool have struck gold with signings, most notably through the £8.5m capture of Philippe Coutinho in 2013, whom the Reds eventually sold for an eye-watering £142m.
Coutinho wasn’t the only piece of highly profitable business Liverpool had exchanged with Barcelona, with none other than Luis Suarez being one of the club’s biggest sales.
How much did Liverpool pay for Luis Suarez?
In January 2011, Liverpool captured the signature of Suarez from Eredivisie giants Ajax in a deal worth just £23m.
Signed at the age of 24, the Reds locked him down on a five-and-a-half year contract, in what was a stellar piece of business by manager at the time, Kenny Dalglish.
Nowadays, spending around £23m for a natural goal-scoring striker would be considered a vast underpayment, however, journalist Tim Vickery told BBC Radio 5 live at the time that the Reds had paid “top whack” for the Uruguayan.
It was admittedly a lot of money to spend on a player at the time, yet when revisiting the calibre of player that Liverpool had signed in the 24-year-old Suarez, it all made more sense.
Why was he worth that much?
In 159 appearances for Ajax, Suarez contributed directly to 179 goals, scoring 111 and assisting 68 in a remarkable three-and-a-half-year stay in Amsterdam.
Prior to his move to Anfield, the striker had scored 12 goals and registered 11 assists in 24 appearances during the 2010/11 campaign, reinforcing just how hot Dalglish’s signing of the forward was at the time.
Suarez was far more than just a poacher at Ajax, however he fit the description of one extremely well, with his highest scoring season coming in the 2009/10 season in which he netted an astounding 49 goals in 48 appearances, 35 of which came in the Eredivisie.
There was a feeling at the time at Anfield that equipping the side with a reliable goalscorer could pave a lot of cracks, and in adding Suarez to the mix, the Reds were well poised to progress.
How many goals did Luis Suarez score for Liverpool?
The evidence was there instantly that Dalglish had made the correct call on Suarez, as he scored on his Premier League debut in a 2-0 win against Stoke City in February 2011.
During his opening spell in the Premier League, the Uruguayan scored four goals and recorded five assists, showing a sign of things to come.
The 2011/12 campaign marked Suarez’s first full season at Liverpool, and after his 35-goal heroics in Eredivisie in his final full term at Ajax, ending the season on 11 goals was marginally underwhelming, but again, it was just the beginning.
Very quickly, the £23m signing became an unstoppable force, as in his second season, he scored 23 Premier League goals, followed by scoring a magnificent 31 during the 2013/14 campaign, seeing him win the Golden Boot by a sizable margin.
Luis Suarez's Liverpool career
Season
Apps
Goals
Assists
2010/11
13
4
5
2011/12
39
17
9
2012/13
44
30
13
2013/14
37
31
19
Figures via Transfermarkt
Suarez became the benchmark for strikers in England to follow during his time at Liverpool, showing a combination of skill, desire, flair and controversy to make him unforgettable.
In 2014, Gary Lineker dubbed the Reds’ hero a “phenomenon” for his ability in front of goal, which was reinforced by the 82 goals and 46 assists he’d secured in a total of 133 appearances for Liverpool.
How much did Liverpool sell Luis Suarez for?
Unfortunately for Brendan Rodgers, who became manager after Dalglish, it wasn’t only Lineker who saw the 'phenomenon' in Suarez, as Barcelona came knocking that summer.
After three-and-a-half years on Merseyside, Liverpool made the decision to allow Suarez to fulfil his dream and join the Catalan giants, receiving a fee of £75m for his services in 2014.
It was a difficult time for Rodgers to part ways with his formidable scorer, as his final season at Anfield concluded with the Reds missing out on the title, after looking as though they would be crowned champions throughout the campaign.
Liverpool finished second that year, and following his big-money exit, Rodgers’ side crumbled, finishing sixth in the 2014/15 term, their first without Suarez leading the line.
How much is Luis Suarez worth now?
In selling Suarez, Liverpool bid farewell to their reliable source of goals, however they did receive a sizable profit for his sale, creditable to how well the club had managed their player and squeezed the very best out of him in England.
The Uruguay international went on to score 195 goals and record 113 assists in 283 appearances for Barcelona, as well as winning the prestigious Champions League alongside his attacking partners Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Now 36, Suarez resides in Brazil, representing Brazilian Serie A club Gremio with a market value of €11.5m (£10m), showing a career that has gone full circle from his time in the Premier League.
While the sale of Suarez was detrimental to Rodgers’ squad’s progression, Liverpool struck gold in signing him in the first place, receiving a fee 226% higher from Barcelona than the mere £23m paid to retrieve him in 2014.
After scoring 11 goals in his first full season, there was little indication that the Uruguayan would hit the heights that he soon after did at Anfield, which is a credit to the club and the player himself.
All the factors along the way of Suarez’s career on Merseyside were attributable to the mega-fee that Liverpool were rewarded with in 2014, in a transaction that will go down as one of the Reds’ best buys and sales of the Premier League era.