Liverpool striker Luis Suárez perfect for City despite sale denials

Speculation linking Liverpool striker Luis Suárez with Man City has been met with cold water by both Roberto Mancini and Brendan Rodgers.

The Reds talisman netted the equaliser against Chelsea to make him joint top scorer in the Premier League with odds of 9/2 to end the season with the Golden Boot.

Robin Van Persie – also currently on eight league goals – will push the Uruguayan all the way, and there is a chance that Suárez could copy Van Persie’s move to Manchester at the end of this campaign.

Van Persie ignored the call of loyalty at Arsenal to complete a £24m switch to Man United, where he has seamlessly fitted in to the Old Trafford forward line.

And although Mancini, Rodgers and Suárez have distanced themselves from a potential transfer, it would not come as a great shock if he did end up making a big money move to Eastlands.

This season the striker has been Liverpool’s most influential and prolific player, responsible for over half the club’s 14 league goals.

Statistics suggest the Anfield club would be bottom of the division without him, and considering Brendan Rodgers’ lack of forwards that is not a hard scenario to envisage.

Suárez appears to have moved on from all of his problems last season, when he was banned for racially abusing Patrice Evra and whispers of Kenny Dalglish cutting his loses with the controversial talent did the rounds.

But it was the Scottish tactician that moved on, and under Rodgers the former Ajax hitman has re-established himself as the crux of this Liverpool team, leading the line admirably during a tough period for the Merseysiders.

Suárez – who scored the Reds’ second goal during their 2-2 draw with Man City earlier in the season – has however, played down talk of leaving the club he joined for £22.8m nearly two years ago.

“I have a very long contract here and it’s a dream come true to be playing at a club like Liverpool because as a boy I dreamt of playing for a team like this,” said Suárez.

His boss Rodgers echoed those sentiments by claiming: “There will be no bidding war (for Suárez), he’s staying here.”

A £50m move has been mooted in the media for the coveted attacker, and even Mancini wasn’t willing to discuss a swoop for Suárez when he spoke to the press.

“We can’t buy Suarez or another player because we have four strikers and Suarez plays for Liverpool,” announced the Italian.

But things change very quickly in football and if two of his four strikers – namely Mario Balotelli and Eden Džeko – were to leave, then the Reds number seven might move into Mancini’s sights in earnest.

Balotelli has been linked with a return to Serie A and Džeko’s supersub success has earned him plaudits in the shape of City’s Premier League rivals Arsenal.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.