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Assurances throughout the season have been issued regarding the future of Luis Suarez despite what's been another controversy-plagued campaign--the player's denied any truth to rumors about a move, Brendan Rodgers has repeatedly proclaimed that the club wouldn't be selling, and Ian Ayre, whilst in the middle of damage control due to the Uruguayan's bite on Branislav Ivanovic, calmly dismissed any concerns that an exit would be on the cards during the impending transfer window. Those were all well and good, but you didn't really think we'd make it through the summer (or even into the summer proper) without some sort of trouble, did you? Good, because the statements made by Suarez on Uruguayan radio won't have caught you completely off-guard.
First reported by Rory Smith at The Times, who directed towards the Twitter feed of journalist Martin Charquero, Suarez has apparently discussed how hard the past year has been for him and his family, and that he would struggle to say no to an approach from Real Madrid. The tweets in question from Charquero:
"Hable con mi representante.DECIRLE QUE NO AL REAL MADRID ES DIFÍCIL.Tengo contrato con el Liverpool. Lo dijo Luis Suárez en @ultimoalarco
— Martin Charquero (@MartinCharquero) May 29, 2013
"Soy feliz en Liverpool. Amo Liverpool pero este año fue muy duro para mi,mi señora y mi hija. " Luis Suárez en @ultimoalarco
— Martin Charquero (@MartinCharquero) May 29, 2013
And just now from Rory Smith:
Suarez from @martincharquero: "I have spoken to Rodgers, he knows what I want. He understands my situation."
— Rory Smith (@RorySmithTimes) May 29, 2013
More Suarez: "I love #LFC, but I have a wife and daughter, and I'm not prepared to tolerate the English press any more."
— Rory Smith (@RorySmithTimes) May 29, 2013
I'll leave it to our Spanish-speaking contingent to give a proper translation--audio of the interview is here--but we're essentially left with yet another hubbub involving Luis Suarez, and now Liverpool will have to either calm the waters by issuing the types of denials they've already had to over the course of the season, or ignore what appear to be serious(ish) reports from the player himself that he and his family are unsettled, and that a move elsewhere might be more suitable.
To make the point again, though, none of this is or should be surprising; I don't know that an international break has passed without some sort of controversy involving a) radio interviews in a player's home country, b) translated text, and c) Luis Suarez. What happens from here will be interesting to watch, but we can't really pretend that anything involving Suarez would be much of a surprise at this point.
Unless he and controversy go their separate ways.