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Despite a low rumble from the start of transfer deadline day suggesting Real Madrid would make a late bid for Luis Suarez, reliable sources repeatedly suggested this wasn't in fact that case—or that even if such a bid were to conspire, it would be dismissed out of hand regardless of the proposed fee.
Now, Liverpool fans can safely put to rest any fears that Suarez would somehow find a way to depart with only minutes left in the transfer window and no time for the club to bring in replacements, as the player himself has poured cold water on the Madrid rumours and insisted he is at peace with the prospect of remaining at Liverpool for the coming season.
"I closed the subject a while ago," said Suarez to reporters as he arrived in Montevideo ahead of Uruguay's upcoming qualifiers against Peru and Colombia, two matches Uruguay will likely have to win in order to keep their fading World Cup hopes alive. "I have already decided to stay at Liverpool and as I have just landed I know nothing [about new rumours]."
Most Liverpool fans won't be under any delusions when it comes to the fact Suarez' long-term future almost certainly lies elsewhere, but with the player committing himself to Anfield for the coming season and claiming he has heard nothing of deadline day whispers concerning late interest from Madrid, it seems safe to finally put this summer's Luis Suarez transfer saga in the rearview mirror.
"If I play I am the subject of people talking and if I do not play it is the same," Suarez added. "[The press] have already transferred me to every team, but I am finished with this talk. I said that if something happens then good, but if I was staying at Liverpool I would be delighted. [Talk of a move] is over for now."
However, rumour mongering about where Suarez might head in January—or next summer at the very latest—is likely to kick off any minute now.