The Reds will stand their ground for a second consecutive summer as the Catalan side pursues the striker, with the two clubs rumoured to be holding talks in London on Wednesday

By Wayne Veysey | UK Correspondent

Liverpool will refuse to allow Luis Suarez to join Barcelona for less than the fee stipulated in his release clause, Goal understands.

The Merseysiders’ American owners have vowed to play hardball with their prize asset for a second consecutive summer amid reports that a delegation from Camp Nou will meet Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre in London on Wednesday for an opening round of talks over the 27-year-old.

Barcelona are expected to table a substantial bid for Suarez even though he has been banned for four months by Fifa for biting Giorgio Chiellini.

Liverpool have not denied that a release fee was inserted in the new €280,000-a-week contract that Suarez signed last December.

The precise release clause, which can only be triggered by a non-English club, is unknown but sources anticipate it is between €71-84 million.

Any hope Barca might have had of landing Suarez for a cut-price fee due to his ban and tarnished image will be dashed by the stance of Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG).

Privately, FSG are said to be adamant that Suarez can only leave if the valuation of his release fee is met.

Should this figure not be matched, Liverpool plan to hold on to Suarez at least until January, even though he will miss the first two-and-a-half months of next season.

A repeat of a saga similar to last summer, when Suarez and his agent Pere Guardiola spent months trying to engineer a move to Arsenal, could now be in store as Liverpool refuse to grant their star player an easy exit.

Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta praised the striker for his ability and admitted that his goalscoring record is proof he is capable of playing for the club, statements which Liverpool will have been unimpressed by.

“Everyone knows that Luis is an excellent player, everyone knows last season he played in various positions in attack, but everyone also knows that he is a Liverpool player,” the sporting director said.

“Regardless of whether the club signs him or not, his quality is unquestionable. He has shown a lot of quality with Uruguay and scored more than 30 goals with Liverpool, so he has the necessary quality to play for Barca.”

Barcelona will sell Alexis Sanchez, possibly to one of his Premier League suitors, to free up space in their front line and on their wage bill for Suarez.

The Uruguayan’s situation is also being monitored by the Catalan club’s great rivals Real Madrid.

COMMENT: Casillas, Higuain and Balotelli are among the other stars who have damaged their reputations with poor performances in Brazil

By Greg Stobart in Brazil

It has been one of the best World Cups ever, packed with goals, drama and quality.

Yet for all the entertainment, not everyone can be a star.

Spain, England and Italy are among the big hitters dumped out of the tournament early, and naturally there has been finger pointing and recriminations.

Some players have returned from Brazil with lower reputations than when they arrived.

Steven Gerrard is the Liverpool and England captain, Diego Costa has just cost Chelsea €44 million and Iker Casillas has 156 caps to his name.

Yet they are among the leading stars who have failed to produce in the World Cup.

DIEGO COSTA

Diego Costa dominated the build-up to Spain’s World Cup defence, from the moment he chose to play for the Europeans rather than his native Brazil to his selection for the opening game against the Netherlands amid fitness concerns.

In fact, he probably shouldn’t have gone to the World Cup because of the hamstring problem that affected him towards the end of his 36-goal season for Atletico Madrid. His introduction into the Spain squad coincided with the downfall of a team that won their previous three tournaments.

Costa never appeared to develop an understanding with his team-mates and was virtually anonymous in a clumsy competitive debut as Spain were smashed 5-1 by the Netherlands. In La Roja’s second group game, the new Chelsea man missed a golden opportunity early in the second-half to get his side back in the game.

STEVEN GERRARD

Steven Gerrard has a habit of digging his side out of trouble when they need him. He also has a habit of making costly mistakes.

The latter was the case during a disastrous World Cup campaign that is likely to prompt the Liverpool midfielder’s retirement from international football.

Still reeling from the slip against Chelsea in May that may have cost his club the Premier League title, Gerrard’s mistakes against Uruguay ensured that England’s World Cup ended in the group stage for the first time since 1958.

After a poor display in the defeat to Italy in which he was outpassed and overrun, Gerrard’s made errors in the build-up to both Uruguay goals in the 2-1 defeat in Sao Paulo.

He blundered on the halfway line with a weak challenge in the lead up to Luis Suarez’s opener and then headed the ball straight to Suarez late on to allow his Liverpool team-mate to slam home the winner.

IKER CASILLAS

Vicente Del Bosque’s sentimentality damaged Spain when he chose to stick with Casillas as his captain and goalkeeper despite the fact he played second fiddle to Diego Lopez in La Liga.

Four years after lifting the World Cup in South Africa, Casillas was the embodiment of a shambolic tournament for the reigning champions.

Fresh from almost costing Real Madrid the Champions League final, he produced a horrible performance in the humiliating 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands. He was caught under the ball for Stefan de Vrij to put Holland 3-1 ahead before his heavy touch gifted Robin van Persie the fourth.

Casillas remains a World Cup-winning captain and a legend with 156 caps, but this tournament should signal the end of his international career.

GONZALO HIGUAIN

Much was made before the start of the World Cup of Argentina’s deadly front three of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain.

While Messi has been doing his part, it certainly hasn’t panned out as expected for Higuain. The Napoli man came into the tournament on the back of an ankle problem and he has played as though he has six other injuries at the same time.

Higuain’s plodding movement and lack of sharpness has been a theme of Argentina’s matches, with the 26-year-old failing to get in dangerous positions and badly missing the few chances that have fallen his way. It says a lot that, when drawing 0-0 with Iran and struggling to break their opponents down, Higuain was substituted in the 76th minute.

He has been more of a hindrance than a help at times and the net effect is that, with Aguero out through injury, Messi must be feeling he has to do it all alone.

MARIO BALOTELLI

It started well enough for Balotelli when he headed home the winner in Italy’s 2-1 victory over England in their opener in Manaus.

Yet that was the last goal the Azzurri scored at the World Cup and Balotelli ended the tournament watching helplessly from the bench as they were eliminated following a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay.

Balotelli had been substituted at half-time in that game, having failed to do anything of note in the first 45 minutes other than pick up a booking to run the risk of a red card.

The Milan striker had been equally out of sorts in the 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica. Cesare Prandelli resigned as Italy coach after the tournament, and he may well reflect that he should have picked Ciro Immobile over a player with an attitude problem who offered virtually nothing.

A number of clubs have enquired about the 28-year-old’s situation following the expiry of his contract with Ligue 2 side Ajaccio

Jorge Berlanga, the agent of goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, has confirmed that a lot of interest has been shown in his client.

Liverpool are rumoured to be among the clubs to have enquired about the 28-year-old, who is out of contract after his deal with Ligue 2 side AC Ajaccio expired.

The goalkeeper, who spent three years with the French club and made over 110 appearances, has been capped on more than 60 occasions for his national side.

The goalkeeper’s inspired performances helped Mexico to edge their way out of a tough group, which contained Brazil, Croatia and Cameroon, however a narrow 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands saw his side bow out of the tournament at the last-16 stage.

“Many clubs are interested in my client, but we still have not received any concrete offers,” the agent is quoted as saying TuttomercatoWeb.

“Now it is normal that many clubs will be interested in him after he played so well at the World Cup.”

Atletico Madrid and Arsenal are said to be interested in signing the shot-stopper, however the Mexico international has revealed his desire to stay in France, which has led to talk linking him with a move to Monaco.

Ochoa has also expressed his desire to play in Germany, claiming that he “dreams” of playing in the Bundesliga.

“I dream of the Bundesliga,” he told Bild. “It is definitely one of the world’s strongest leagues. It would be really great if I could present myself there.”