Luis Is Going Nowhere, Brendan Rogers Tells Wenger

                       

Brendan Rodgers has insisted that Luis Suarez will start next season as a Liverpool player 'unless anything drastic happens'.

Speaking at a press conference here in Jakarta, Liverpool's manager reinforced his determination to keep the unsettled Uruguay international at Anfield, in light of interest from Arsenal and Real Madrid.

Earlier this week, Liverpool Managing Director Ian Ayre confirmed that Arsenal are the only club to have made an offer for Suarez but their £30million bid plus add-ons is way short of Liverpool's value of him.

                    
                     
                    

Rodgers has had almost daily communication with Suarez, who is scheduled to link up with Liverpool on the second leg of their tour in Melbourne next week, throughout the saga and he is resolute in his belief that the 26-year-old will not be sold.

'He is a wonderful player,' said Rodgers, whose side face an Indonesian All-Star XI on Saturday. 'And he is still very much a Liverpool player. No matter who the player is, nobody is bigger than Liverpool Football Club.

'Luis is a very important member of this squad and I am looking forward to working with him again this season. There has been lots of speculation about Luis moving to another club but, as I said, he is very much a Liverpool player.

'We had an offer that was nowhere near what we value him at. Of course he wants to work and play at the top level. But unless something drastic happens, he will be staying here. He has got three years left on his contract.'

Suarez still has six games to serve of the 10-match ban he received for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic in April and Rodgers insisted the time had come to move on from the incident

'What Luis did was wrong,' said Rodgers. 'He has apologised to me, his team-mates and the supporters. He will serve his punishment and now we have to put it behind us. We will move on and move on together. He was told he was wrong by the football club.

Such was the level of interest in the press conference at Liverpool's team hotel, security guards were required to keep the crowds out of the auditorium. More than 300 people were in the room when Rodgers walked in. He was greeted by a round of applause.

Unsurprisingly, Suarez proved to be the dominant topic but Liverpool's manager was also asked about his side's prospects of reaching the top four next season, the signing she has made so far and the players, like Xabi Alonso, with whom Liverpool have been linked.

'The four new players have settled really well and they have looked good in the first two weeks of training. I an really happy with them,' said Rodgers. 'Will I sign an Asian player? At LFC, we just want good players and it does not matter which country they are from.

'Asia,South America, Europe... Liverpool is a club that is a world institution. But we only want good players. We must have been linked with 100 players this summer. Xabi Alonso was an incredible player for this club, a wonderful role model, but he is in a different moment in his career with Real Madrid.'

On ending Liverpool's four-year absence from the top four, Rodgers added: 'We are fighting to get into the Champions League. The great name and history of Liverpool means we have got to get into that competition.

'It is difficult these days but we have to continue to fight. I believe that we will put up a great fight next season, I really do. Let's hope we can get back to where we belong.'

                

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