Sunday, 11th August, 2013
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has demanded Luis Suarez apologise to his team-mates and the club as a condition of being allowed to return to training with the first team.
Suarez, the subject of two bids from Arsenal this summer, has made clear his desire to quit Liverpool and has accused the club of breaking a promise made when he penned an extended deal last year.
The Uruguayan has insisted that Liverpool agreed they would sell him for offers in excess of £40m if they did not qualify for this season's Champions League. And while a £40m clause does exist in his deal, which is thought to stipulate "good faith negotiations", the Reds have claimed it does not force them to sell and have furthermore said they will not sell him this summer.
That has infuriated Suarez – and Rodgers has forced him to train alone.
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Now the Liverpool manager has laid out what he feels needs to happen before Suarez trains with his team-mates again.
"Initially there will be a recognition and apology to his team-mates and the club", Rodgers said at a press conference in Dublin.
"Once we get that commitment that he's ready to fight as he has always done.
"Luis Suarez has fought tirelessly for this club. The Luis Suarez we've seen over this period of time is not the one I know and we need to protect the group and the fans and great supporters of this club.
"He spent a few days working on his own. When he comes back from his international trip with Uruguay, we'll assess it."
Rodgers also made it clear that, for him, there is no question of selling Suarez to Arsenal.
"He won't be going to Arsenal, that's for sure. We want to keep him."
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