Ajax want more respect from Liverpool over Luis Suárez

Ajax are keen not to sell Luis Suárez to Liverpool after a spokesman for the Dutch club accused the Reds of “lacking respect” in their pursuit of the striker.

Liverpool’s director of football strategy Damien Comolli travelled to Amsterdam this week in an attempt to negotiate a deal for the 23-year-old Uruguay forward, but the Merseyside club’s reported offer of around £13m is believed to be only half of what Ajax want for their highly-rated front man.

And it appears any chance of winger Ryan Babel being included in the deal has fallen through after it was on Monday confirmed he is set join Bundesliga club Hoffenheim.

Ajax insist they will hold their ground over their valuation of Suárez. A spokesman told The Guardian: “We’ll have to wait for them to come back with something more respectful.

“We want to keep him – at least until the end of the season and preferably for the rest of his contract. If you compare the €15m (£13m) Liverpool want to pay for Suarez with other transfers you can imagine that it’s far too low for us.

“Luis is our top goalscorer for the last three years and also the man with by far the most assists as well. He was one of the big guys for Uruguay in helping them come third in the World Cup in the summer and he still has a contract with us for two-and-a-half years.”