Brendan Rodgers’ mistake with Suso could cost Liverpool £34m to rectify

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It is being reported this summer that Liverpool are keen on bringing Spanish attacker Suso to the club from AC Milan. Of course, it would be a return to the club for the 24-year-old.

The 24-year-old winger first joined Liverpool in 2014 from his boyhood club Cadiz. It was something of an under-the-radar signing but which soon had Liverpool fans very excited.

Suso put in a string of fantastic performances with the club’s youth-team and Liverpool fans felt they had a special talent on their hands at Melwood.

However, Suso found himself hitting a glass ceiling at Liverpool. The signing of players like Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho left the Spaniard struggling for football. After a loan spell in his homeland with Almeria in 2013-14, the attacker had clearly decided his future was no longer with Liverpool.

He decided to let his contract expire on Merseyside and in January 2015 AC Milan paid a compensation fee to end that deal early and bring him to Italy.

Suso has since gone on to establish himself as a star in Italian football. After initial struggles, which saw him loaned out to Genoa in 2016, he has now begun to fulfil his potential at the San Siro.

The past two seasons he has been a regular and the club’s best assist maker. Such good form even saw him make his debut for the senior Spanish national team last year.

Now it is being reported Liverpool are one of the teams interested in activating his release clause. As reported by Calciomercato this month, the Spaniard has a €40 million (£35 million) release clause in his contract at the San Siro. Considering the compensation paid to Liverpool in 2015 was reported by the Daily Mail to be just £1 million, Liverpool will not be taking the re-signing of Suso lightly. It would be at the cost of £34 million, considering they had the Spaniard in their clutches just three years ago.

Fans at Anfield rarely see their club having to rebuy a player. It is certainly more of a ‘Chelsea thing’ to do, with Nemanja Matic and David Luiz both returning to the club at a cost in recent times.

At the time of Suso’s departure, Liverpool fans were not impressed that the club had allowed the situation to spiral out of their control. The finger was pointed swiftly at Brendan Rodgers for not giving the Spaniard, who was highly-rated among the fanbase, a chance. He clearly did not offer him the vision of a first-team future at Anfield.

But if Liverpool’s current boss Jurgen Klopp believes Suso has developed into a player that can truly give the Reds another edge, then they simply must bite the bullet. Just look at how one former Premier League ‘flop’ has performed since returning to England via Anfield? Another Mohamed Salah would be a very welcome moment for Liverpool fans.