Liverpool have opened preliminary talks about a new contract for striker Luis Suarez but any potential new lucrative deal is some way off yet.
Managing director Ian Ayre flew to Barcelona yesterday to speak to the Uruguay international’s agents about the possibility of a new deal, reports said.
It seems unlikely the 26-year-old will agree to extend his stay beyond the 2016 end of his current deal until he knows whether the club have qualified for the Champions League.
Even then that may not necessarily be enough to keep him but, having previously pledged his support until the end of the season, the league’s leading scorer with 17 goals seemed fully focused in restoring Liverpool’s place among Europe’s elite.
That is a far cry from the summer when he was very outspoken with his frustrations about not being allowed to leave for a Champions League club, especially after Arsenal lodged a bid of £40m in the mistaken belief it would trigger a release clause.
But while everything seems relatively stable with Suarez at the moment former Reds midfielder Dietmar Hamann believes the club need a long-term personal commitment in addition to any new contract.
“What must not happen is we have a situation next year as we had last summer,” said the German.
“He could sign a new contract now, take the £200,000 a week, the team finishes outside the top four and you have the same shenanigans.
“I want him to stay but there needs to be clarity. He has got to understand what it means to commit.
“If there is a clause that he can go for £60m, £80m and someone pays it, that is obviously fair enough, but you can’t have a situation again like you had last summer.”
Suarez has scored 17 goals in 11 matches this season since returning from a 10-game suspension, carried over from the previous campaign, for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.
At the weekend he won the Football Supporters’ Federation’s player of the year and with Liverpool second in the league, just two points behind Arsenal, confidence and optimism is high at Anfield.
However, they have a tough Christmas schedule with away trips to Manchester City and Chelsea after Saturday’s visit of Cardiff and those two games could have a significant bearing on the rest of the season.