Liverpool Sink In, Reportedly Set £50m Valuation on Suarez

All signs point to a twisty road through the summer, as we're not yet to June--or the actual transfer window--and we've already got one new player confirmed in Kolo Toure, another supposedly on the cusp of a move in Iago Aspas, a handful of other realistic-seeming targets led by Kyriakos Papadopoulos, and the rabbit hole that's become the future of Luis Suarez. More translations of his comments have emerged as the day has progressed, causing even more more confusion than clarification, and now Tony Barrett of The Times is reporting that the club have "hardened (their) resolve" and will not consider any bids lower than £50m.

The full article is behind a paywall at current, but I'd imagine that other outlets will be on the story soon enough. If true (and there's no reason to believe they're not), it's another interesting and encouraging twist in the tale. Liverpool don't want to sell, which they've made clear in their statement earlier in the day, and setting a valuation that would break all sorts of Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll records will ideally scare Real Madrid and others away or leave the club with a very large sum of cash.

Talent can't be quantified and romance and etc., but bringing that kind of money in has to be considered for any player, sentiment be damned. The biggest question then becomes how the club reinvest those monies; Brendan Rodgers has asserted that there isn't necessarily a limit on the transfer budget for the summer, and while Liverpool's ability to bring in elite talent might still be in question, the money available should help to make the club about as competitive as they're going to be.

Maybe I lied yesterday--I think I still don't really care too much whether he stays or goes as long as it happens fairly efficiently and effectively, but it is nice to see the club standing up and asserting themselves in such a manner. If Luis Suarez wants to go, that's fine. Liverpool have their needs too, though, and those have to be met whether or not the player wants to stick around.