The Uruguayan has been linked with a summer exit from Anfield after another season of controversy, but the Scot believes English football must retain its top talents
EXCLUSIVE
By Paul Clennam
Liverpool and the Premier League will lose out if Luis Suarez decides to leave English football this summer, according to former Reds star Gary McAllister.
Suarez has been plagued by controversy since arriving at Anfield in January 2011, and is currently serving a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
The Uruguayan’s long list of misdemeanours has made him something of a hate figure for many on these shores, but McAllister believes his talent makes him worth persisting with.
“The noises coming out of Anfield are that they’re going to try to stand by him, but the pressure Suarez and his family have come under might just persuade him to ply his trade somewhere else,” the Scot told Goal.com.
“That would be a crying shame. The Premier League over the past two or three years has lost quite a few high-profile players to Europe, and we have to try to keep all our top talent in England.
“It would be sad for the Premier League if we did lose him. He’s such a wonderful player, but what he did you can’t excuse.”
In Suarez’s absence, January arrivals Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge have stepped up to the plate for Brendan Rodgers, shining in Liverpool’s 6-0 demolition of Newcastle last Saturday.
McAllister believes the Reds boss has pulled off something of a coup in attracting the Brazilian to Anfield, and thinks Sturridge should figure more prominently in the England reckoning.
“Coutinho falls right into that model that Brendan Rodgers is looking to put together: small, technical, with a real love for the game and never stops moving,” he added.
“There’s a lot said about who should be playing up front for England, but Sturridge has adapted his game really well. He’s a modern striker with the ability to play in wider areas.
“He can adapt, and if Roy Hodgson wants to play three up front, Sturridge is equipped to play right across the front line. When he’s at it, he’s got a lot to offer.”