‘Luis Suarez will leave if Liverpool miss out on top-four finish’

John Aldridge is convinced that Luis Suarez will leave Liverpool next summer if the Reds fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

The Uruguay striker’s future was a source of relentless speculation over the summer after he publicly stated his desire to leave the club for a team in Europe’s elite club competition.

Arsenal had at least one bid for the 26-year-old rejected by the Reds, while Real Madrid were also credited with an interest in the striker.

But Suarez has been one of Liverpool’s standout performers since a move failed to materialise, with the forward having scored six Premier League goals already this season.

The Reds are currently third in the Premier League table after a flying start to the new campaign – but former Liverpool striker Aldridge fully expects Suarez to seek a move away should Brendan Rodgers’ men miss out on a top-four finish.

“Everything is going great at the moment but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fear we’ll lose Suarez next summer,” Aldridge wrote in his column in the Liverpool Echo. “No matter how much you get, how do you try to replace someone like him?

“Brendan Rodgers is building something and we’re improving all the time. I just hope Suarez can see that and he does agree to stay beyond next summer.

“If we get in the Champions League maybe he will sign a new contract.

“The bottom line is that a player of his calibre and quality deserves to be playing in the Champions League.

“If we don’t get in the top four then he will be off – I think everyone knows and accepts that.”