Gus Poyet: Superstar’s departure ultimately cost Brendan Rodgers his job

Luis Suarez earned Liverpool a fortune in transfer fees - but he cost Brendan Rodgers an awful lot more.

That's according to Gus Poyet who believes that the striker's departure is the reason that Rodgers is no longer in charge at Anfield. Suarez, the main catalyst in Liverpool's near-title win in 2014, left Merseyside that summer and Rodgers was sacked fifteen months later but former Sunderland boss Poyet believes that the former dictated the latter. Poyet told Omnisport: "His [Suarez] departure has cost Liverpool a lot. Among other things, probably Brendan Rodgers’ job.

"Maybe if Suarez was still playing for Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers would be the coach today."

Poyet believes his fellow countryman has elevated his game to the level where he can be the difference between a club finishing in second place and a club winning a title. He said: "Luis left Uruguay and moved to Dutch football, which has certain significance at a world-wide level, but his move to Liverpool put him on a higher level than many. "Today he is playing a part in one of the most important trios in football history. That makes him very special. "In England, he did good things in his first year, but his second year, he was unique. Some people misunderstood my words when I said that Liverpool almost won the Premier League thanks to Luis Suarez. I just wanted to demonstrate the significance of Luis Suarez on the pitch. I wasn’t going against Liverpool. It happens in any part of the world. Napoli won the league when Diego Maradona was playing there. This doesn’t mean that I am saying that Napoli is nothing without Maradona. It is still Napoli, a great team. But it has been demonstrated that with Suarez, Liverpool was a better team."