Luis Suarez
A year on from Arsenal’s infamous £40m and one pound bid, Suarez completed a move to Barcelona. The switch came as something of a surprise, with the Reds having narrowly missed out on the Premier League title and sealed a return to Champions League football. But after biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini – the third such incident of his career – the striker seemingly realised that it would be impossible for him to return to the Premier League.
Speaking about the move, former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said (via Sky Sports): “I was actually already on the floor when I saw the bite because we knew we were going out. It was a double blow, knowing you’re going out of the World Cup and knowing you’re going to lose your best player. I knew there was no way back for him then and I knew he was going to engineer a way out.”
Fernando Torres
January 2011 – the most dramatic transfer deadline day in football history. Torres pushed through a £50m move to Chelsea and the Reds responded by signing Suarez and Andy Carroll. Ironically, the Spaniard was never able to recreate his Liverpool form at Stamford Bridge. Having scored 81 goals in 142 appearances for us, he managed just 45 goals in 172 games for the Blues, with only 20 of those coming in the Premier League.
Speaking about the reasons behind his exit, he said of teammate Steven Gerrard: “He talked with me a lot and even when it was said I was leaving [Liverpool] he said: ‘think about yourself and do what’s best for you because you’ve seen how people are leaving and it’s time. You have nothing to prove’. He changed my way of seeing things and showed me that I could get much higher than what I had always thought.”
