By Christian Bailey
Barcelona are lining up a summer move for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez as new boss Tito Vilanova looks to bring in further attacking options. The Nou Camp manager, who takes over from Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, is hoping to take advantage of the sacking of Kenny Dalglish by plotting a bid for the Uruguayan international.
Last term the Catalan side were heavily reliant on Lionel Messi for firepower, with the club’s leading La Liga scorer after the Argentine’s 50 goal haul only managing a paltry return of 11. With David Villa displaying fairly average form prior to being sidelined with a long term injury and new signing Alexis Sanchez failing to make much of an impact, there is a very real need to look into bringing in a proven goalscorer to help carry the goal-scoring burden.
Despite Liverpool struggling for form 25 year old Suarez managed a healthy 17 goals and seven assists in all competitions and the sacking of the manager who was in charge on his arrival could leave the former Ajax man vulnerable to interest from prospective suitors and Barcelona are keen to take advantage of the situation.
Luis Suarez has spoken of his desire to one day play for the La Liga side and will clearly not be happy with the fact that Liverpool have missed out on Champions League qualification for a third straight season.
Liverpool’s owners will be especially wary of advances for any of the club’s squad following what has been a disastrous domestic campaign and will fight tooth and nail to leave an incoming replacement for Dalglish all the members of the club’s squad who could be deemed as crucial to long and short-term success and Luis Suarez would fit squarely in that category.
