Barnes: Signing Luis Suarez could be a smart bit of business by Liverpool  

John Barnes believes that a reunion with Luis Suarez is a idea that should be in consideration as Jurgen Klopp looks to find more attacking options ahead of the new season

The front-line has been a topic of much discussion this season with Mo Salah and Diogo Jota having to carry much of the scoring load as Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino go through considerable droughts and a general lack of confidence in front of goal.

With the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic hitting club finances extremely hard, the days of big money deals are seemingly off the table until they can find ways to boost revenue with fans returning to stadiums one key element.

 When Suarez was effectively shown the door by new Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman, a return to Anfield started to be discussed in some quarters although with the way that the Reds were ticking along at the time, it was something that never was chased up through official channels.

The Uruguayan eventually signed for Atletico Madrid on a two-year contract and has been a main catalyst behind their chase for La Liga glory scoring 19 league goals in this campaign.

While he is now 34, Suarez is one of the most durable forwards of the modern era and has made no secret of his fondness for Liverpool and the fans despite being public enemy number one when the Reds defeated Barcelona in their epic Champions League semi-final tie two years ago.

Barnes is renowned as being one of the most astute thinkers of the game and he believes that there could certainly be a place for Suarez in Jurgen Klopp’s squad but all boxes would have to be ticked for it to happen.

The Mirror ( via Goal) reported Barnes as saying:

“If they could get Luis on a free transfer that’d be ideal but it’ll come down to whether Luis says he wants to play every week or he’ll be happy to move across and be part of the squad.

“But, because of his age, I don’t think he could expect to be playing every week. 

"The tricky things with these type of transfers is that you have to be pretty certain that the player in question isn’t going to upset things."

Barnes has seen Liverpool struggle through a difficult campaign and when you are not winning consistently , naturally the mood in the squad drops considerably it is hard to stay positive. 

Prior to this season, Liverpool prided themselves on staying focused until the 95th minute of games and hence the ‘Mentality Monsters’ aura was developed.  

Barnes says the squad as a whole need to refine that edge, and Suarez is the kind of player with his "never-say-die' and 'take no prisoner' attitude that would be perfect in this aspect.

“Liverpool needs to recreate their team spirit and togetherness and, in order to do so, the players need to be happy with where they are and level of play. If Luis can do this, then great - get him on board.

“As a player, I think he's always given 100 per cent, and he's a decent enough character in terms of trying all the time without being disruptive. So, yeah, that wouldn't be a bad move for Liverpool.

"And I’m sure the fans would absolutely love to get Luis back and I do wonder if they may kick off if they feel that he isn’t getting enough ground time!"

While Barnes is thinking of Suarez in a hypothetical scenario, what he really feels is a pressing need is to get key defenders fit and firing and a potential wide man to add creative flair.

“Scoring goals hasn’t been Liverpool's problem this season in terms of winning matches - as they have scored plenty of goals. 

The issues have been with the defensive play. And, as we know, in order to win matches we need both to run seamlessly.  

“As with so many other teams, we always seem to focus on signing players who either score the goals or create the opportunities instead of focusing on getting the defence right and solid. And that’s Liverpool's problem! 

"So yes, to sign Raphinha would be great. But, more importantly, we need to get [Virgil] van Dijk and [Joe] Gomez back, and to then have someone creative such as Raphinha that will help us a lot; perhaps even more so than having Luis back at the team."