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For the most part, Liverpool and the club's fans and supporters haven't spent a great deal of time dwelling on the sale of Luis Suarez. One minute he was at the club, an integral part of the squad and key to a successful future. Then he bit Giorgio Chiellini and after a few tumultuous days, for the most part everybody did a collective shrug and began to move on.
"It was time for Luis and time for the club to make a break," said Henry following last night's pre-season friendly against Roma when he was asked about having sold the club's top scorer from last season to Barcelona for £75M. "He brought so much to the team, but I think that we brought a lot to Luis. I think you'll still see a very explosive offence this season."
Suarez may be gone, but in Daniel Sturridge the club has England's second top scorer from last season already on the books. They also increasingly appear to have something that was missing at the club last season, no matter Suarez' individual talent: depth. And they'll certainly need it in order to cope with four competitions and a return to Europe.
"I felt we needed more depth," Henry added. "Last year, we needed more depth, and we're playing a lot more games this year. This year, we're not just focusing on the Premier League, but it's the first time we've been in the Champions League for a while, so that's a huge focus for us. We've brought in a lot more depth, we hope to be able to compete in both arenas."
Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Rickie Lambert, and Lazar Markovic have already joined the squad. Loic Remy, Divock Origi, Dejan Lovren, and Javier Manquillo are all expected to join shortly. Whether one agrees with purported left back target Ryan Bertrand or not, even the club's historical problem position looks set to be bolstered in the coming weeks.
After a season when for a time fans were left to seriously wonder if 16-year-old Jordan Rossiter might need to be pressed into service in an injury-riddled midfield, that depth is massively important. Luis Suarez may have been irreplaceable as an individual talent, but Liverpool today appear a stronger and deeper squad overall despite his recent, departure.
There will always be a certain degree of uncertainty that comes with selling a player of Suarez' calibre. Yet with Liverpool continuing the necessary work of strengthening the squad ahead of returning to the Champions League, it isn't that hard to think that just maybe, as Henry suggests, the time was right to move on from him.
