Forget the 23 Premier League goals Luis Suarez netted for Liverpool this season.
Since the troublesome forward was banned 10 matches for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic the Reds have taken seven of a possible nine points while outscoring their opponents a combined 9-1.
They will miss the Uruguayan, but they will also get by without him. Make no mistake—they will be selling him this summer.
But Juventus are one club that have absolutely no need for the 26-year-old.
Of course, if player acquisitions were merely about on-field performances, the back-to-back Serie A champions would surely be as keen on Suarez as both Bayern Munich (Telegraph) and Paris Saint-Germain (Le 10 Sport) are reported to be.
But his latest biting incident (he was suspended seven matches for taking a chomp out of PSV’s Otman Bakkal back in November 2010) has cast further aspersions on his character, and while some clubs may be desperate enough for reinforcement up front to turn a blind eye to his behavioural history, Juventus are not one of them.
Although Mirko Vucinic is the only Bianconeri forward to have scored 10 Serie A goals so far this season (Arturo Vidal has also contributed 10 from midfield), between the Montenegrin, Alessandro Matri and Fabio Quagliarella they still have enough weapons up front to warrant some distance between themselves and Suarez.
They’ll be adding to their striking corps during the summer, anyway.
Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente, out of contract at the end of the season, will be moving to Turin in the next few weeks and will look to replicate the form that saw him bag 29 goals in all competitions for the Basque side in 2011-12.
Juventus are also thought to be interested in reacquiring PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who represented the club between 2002 and 2006.
Gazzetta dello Sport has already claimed the Bianconeri have offered the Sweden international a four-year contract (Eurosport), and given the bust-up between the 31-year-old and PSG sporting director Leonardo during the Ligue 1 side’s title celebrations Sunday (Metro), it would seem as though a parting between the player and his current club is imminent.
As for Suarez, he may have some difficulty finding a western European club to join ahead of next season.
Given his profile, wage demands and the fee Liverpool are likely to demand, it’s unlikely a midtable side from any of the continent’s major leagues would be able to afford him, which is why a switch to Turkey or Russia would perhaps be in his best interests, at least for the time being.
Galatasaray and Fenerbahce have been throwing considerable money at high-profile players in recent months, and the likes of Zenit St. Petersburg and Anzhi Makhachkala are no strangers to shelling out for big-name players, either.
Any of these would be far more realistic destinations for Suarez, who isn’t needed at Juventus, anyway.
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