Liverpool and Barcelona will hold further talks over the sale of Luis Suarez this week after the Spanish club made an opening offer understood to be around £72million.
The outline bid is still short of Liverpool’s £80m valuation but shows an acceptance of the 27-year-old’s worth.
Wednesday’s meeting in London was productive and cordial with sensible expectations placed on both sides.
Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre met with Barcelona power brokers Raúl Sanllehí, Toni Rossich and Jordi Mestre.
Although nothing was finalised there is an expectation that an agreement can be met to grant Suarez his wish to move to Barcelona.
Liverpool maintain an interest in Alexis Sanchez and he could yet be included as a makeweight with Liverpool having already valued him at around £30m.
The Chile international has given no indication he wants to move to Anfield and Suarez’s transfer is unlikely to be concluded until the 25-year-old has decided whether to join Liverpool, Arsenal, another European club or stay at the Nou Camp.
On Tuesday, Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta publicly backed the shamed striker, smoothing the way for him to join Barcelona.
‘Suarez had the honour to come out and apologise for his actions and now it’s time for him to begin the recovery process,’ Zubizarreta said at the Nou Camp as new signing Ivan Rakitic was unveiled.
Rakitic also had his say on the controversy, saying: ‘To have the character and strength to apologise in front of the world shows what a noble person he is.’
Source: Daily Mail
