Liverpool have had no shortage of exhilarating forwards throughout the Premier League era.
Robbie Fowler’s goalscoring exploits earned him the Kop nickname ‘God’, Michael Owen’s rapid rise was capped with Ballon d’Or success in 2001 and Fernando Torres won fans’ affection with his majestic centre-forward displays.
And although they are out of sorts at the moment, current superstars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have etched themselves into the Anfield history books by delivering the Premier League title last season.
But none of these players set Liverpool fans’ pulses racing quite like Luis Suarez did.
Many supporters would argue Suarez is the most gifted man to pull on a Liverpool shirt and the Uruguayan will forever be remembered on Merseyside for his blistering three-and-a-half seasons with the club.
Suarez was unveiled as a Liverpool player on transfer deadline day in January 2011 after a club-record £22.8million fee was agreed with Ajax.
His arrival was quickly superseded by that of Andy Carroll only hours later once the Reds struck a £35million deal with Newcastle.
But the two strikers quickly embarked on very different trajectories.
Carroll was made to wait for his first Liverpool appearance due to injury, while Suarez scored on his debut – a 2-0 win over Stoke City.
It was clear to see Suarez had total belief in his ability when he requested the legendary No.7 shirt made famous by Kenny Dalglish – who had just been appointed caretaker manager.
He finished the season with nine goal involvements in 13 Premier League games, before a 2011/12 season which was marred as the Football Association found he had racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
Suarez was banned for eight games and finished the season with 17 goals in all competitions and a League Cup winners’ medal.
Indeed, it was the 2012/13 season which propelled Suarez to new heights; the hitman netted 23 goals in the Premier League and racked up 43 goal involvements in 44 games.
He was embroiled in more controversy and handed a 10-game ban after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a 2-2 draw at Chelsea.
But another scandal did little to quash the growing wave of transfer speculation and Suarez claimed he would like to leave Liverpool, prompting a public dressing down by then-manager Brendan Rodgers.
Keen to capitalise on the pandemonium, Arsenal tabled a bid of £40,000,001 due to a contract clause which meant Suarez would need to be notified if any club bid more than £40million for him.
A conversation with captain Steven Gerrard proved vital to convincing Suarez to stay and the Uruguayan recalled: “I’m about to go to Arsenal, forcing myself to go, and Steven tells me ‘I promise that if you stay this year you’re going to take off and next year you’ll go to Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid or whichever one you want, but stay this year because you won’t be better off at Arsenal.’
“This was the last conversation I had with Gerrard at that moment and I told my agent that I had made my decision and I was staying.”
Gerrard’s claim that Suarez would be “better off” at Liverpool than Arsenal was vindicated emphatically in the 2013/14 season.
Suarez’s stunning campaign remains one of the finest in Premier League history. He contributed a mind-boggling 31 goals and 17 assists in 33 games, winning the European Golden Shoe as the continent’s most prolific marksman.
Source: Mirror
