Brendan Rodgers’s men are without European football after finishing seventh last term but the club’s managing director is certain that recruitment will not be affected

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre is confident that the club can still attract big-name players to Anfield.
Brendan Rodgers’s men finished seventh in the Premier League last season which means they will be without European football next term.

The club also face the possibility of losing star striker Luis Suarez after the Uruguayan revealed his desire to leave English football in May but Ayre remains sure that Liverpool will still be able to sign plays who can make a significant impact in Rodgers’s side.

“We can still attract top players to Liverpool – I have no doubt about that,” he told the Liverpool Daily Post.

“Look at the last transfer window, when we brought in Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge. Both had a huge impact on the team.

“As long as we continue to bring in players of that quality, we will be heading in the right direction.

“I have never been in negotiations with anyone who has said they don’t want to sign for Liverpool because we are not big or successful enough.”

The midfielder believes that Brendan Rodgers’s playing philosophy has helped him adapt in his first season on Merseyside after following the former Swansea City boss to Anfield

EXCLUSIVE
By Bima Said and Chris Davie

Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen insists that the club are heading in the right direction despite failing to secure European football for next season.

Brendan Rodgers’s side sealed a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League last term, which meant that they missed out on a Europa League place to city rivals Everton.

But, despite the lack of European action at Anfield, Allen claims that the club will continue to make strides domestically.

“This season has had difficulties, there’s been difficult results and performances, but we’re moving in the right direction and I think you can see that more and more recently,” the midfielder told Goal.

“Next season we are really looking to progress and take things that step further.”

Allen followed Rodgers from Swansea City to Liverpool in a £15 million deal last August and the 23-year-old believes that his manager’s possession-based style has allowed him to settle quickly at Anfield.

“He has a philosophy and style about him as a manager which he brought from his days at Swansea and here [at Liverpool],” he added. “I knew that quite well which helped me settle.

“I think when you move clubs it can always take time to settle but I think this club makes a massive effort to help you out and that helps when you get out on the pitch.”

Allen required shoulder surgery in March which forced him to miss the final stages of the last campaign but the midfielder is on course to be a part of Liverpool’s pre-season preparations which, after a match against Preston North End, begins in Indonesia.

He continued: “I’m really excited to be part of a Liverpool pre-season tour, travelling to places like that is exciting. It will be a great preparations for us going into next season.”

The Reds star has explained his unhappiness at being the subject of excessive attention from reporters and the often-criticised Chelsea striker offers his sympathy

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres says that he understands Luis Suarez’s desire to leave Liverpool rather than continue to deal with the English media.

The Reds talisman outlined in May his preference to seek an exit rather than be the focus of reporters after a controversy-stained period in the Premier League, while team-mate Pepe Reina also admits that he sees why the forward might want to leave.

The Spaniard, who has had to deal with frequent criticism during his poor spells of form at Stamford Bridge, believes that the Uruguayan is able to cope with the attention should he choose to do so but would not begrudge him a departure in order to avoid it.

“I never had a problem with the media, the media had a problem with me,” Torres told reporters.

“That affects your family, your friends, it’s not easy.

“I know Luis, he is strong enough to play football despite all the rumours and all the talk but it’s not easy. Sometimes he might think it’s just better to forget about that and move away but it’s his decision.”

Suarez has often been in the headlines for the wrong reasons over his time in the Premier League and is currently serving a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a game.