5 Ways for Brendan Rodgers to Fix the Luis Suarez Situation at Liverpool

And so it rumbles on...

Luis Suarez's participation in the Confederations Cup means that there is no immediate end in sight to the saga surrounding the Uruguay forward's potential departure from Liverpool, with Real Madrid the club most consistently linked with him by various sources in the media, including the Daily Mirror.

The Reds have continually made it clear that they are going to play hardball over their star striker's future and not let him walk away easily, but what can manager Brendan Rodgers do to fix things?

The Northern Irishman will seek to do everything in his power to resolve the situation for the best of his club, but just what needs to be done?

Be Ambitious

If you look through the somewhat tiresome laments over his life in England and his treatment from the media, the key issue behind Suarez's desire to look elsewhere is Liverpool's failure to catch up to the elite teams on the continent.

There's nothing unusual about that, of course, it is the reason the likes of Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano walked away from the club too.

For Suarez to be content with life at the club, he needs to know that the Champions League is more than just a pipe-dream, and a lot of that positivity can come from his manager.

Rodgers is already a fiercely positive person, but instead of talking about his team's "journey" and suchlike, perhaps now he should go on the offensive.

He shouldn't be afraid of talking about a top-four finish, even an unlikely title challenge.

If he spreads the positive vibes, maybe Suarez will buy in to them.

Sign Some New Stars

That ambition can translate to the transfer market too.

The Reds have already been extremely active this summer, bringing in no fewer than four players in Kolo Toure, Luis Alberto, Iago Aspas and, most recently, goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

All are good, solid additions who will improve the squad, but none have the kind of star quality that many supporters will be craving.

That could all change with the rumoured purchase of Shahktar Donetsk attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan. According to The Telegraph, Brendan Rodgers is hoping to bring the £20 million-rated star to Anfield in time for the new season.

The arrival of the gifted Armenian could show Suarez that Liverpool can still attract the better players, and that things are certainly on the up at Anfield.

Show Some Tough Love

Quite clearly Suarez needs to be treated with kid gloves at the best of times, but this certainly isn't one of those times.

Rodgers knows that the Uruguayan is a special case, and he is likely to have to up his treatment of him if he is going to get him to stay at the club beyond this summer.

Some ego massaging, a few kind words and maybe even a bit more money would help, and if Liverpool really are desperate to keep him maybe that's what it will take.

Send Him to See the Doc

The issues that have blighted Suarez's Liverpool career may have been overblown depending on whichever side of the fence you sit on, but they have certainly tarnished his time at the club.

It is, of course, his "edge" that makes him such a superb player, but if he could iron out the other side to his game, perhaps his new approach would aid both him and the club.

In Dr. Steve Peters, Liverpool have a renowned sports psychologist on their staff, and a man who has helped world-class sports stars such as Ronnie O'Sullivan, Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton in the past.

If he can help Suarez out, perhaps the club will benefit from a happier, calmer player.

Sell Him

Ultimately, the best thing for the club and Rodgers might just be to let Suarez go.

It is never ideal to lose such a world-class talent, of course, but if the club receive an acceptable fee for the Uruguayan and they can re-invest the money in a rapidly improving squad, they could eventually find results getting better.

"Fixing the Suarez situation" might just mean letting him leave, and although that should only happen if the deal is the right one for Liverpool, shipping him out might not be the last resort it appears to be.