Luis Suarez: Liverpool Striker Makes Ironic U-Turn on Stance with British Media

Luis Suarez has conducted one of the most remarkable interviews in recent football history, speaking openly about his desire to leave Liverpool and play UEFA Champions League football.

The Uruguayan has been at the centre of a complex transfer saga since Arsenal's initial £30 million bid for him was rejected, as per the BBC, and has since been involved in several disputes with the club over what a certain clause in his contract allows him to do.

Suarez is under the impression he has a £40 million buyout clause, Liverpool aren't so sure. Cue mass confusion, and the striker spoke to The Guardian's Sid Lowe in an attempt to inform the public of what's going on.

"

Last year I had the opportunity to move to a big European club and I stayed on the understanding that if we failed to qualify for the Champions League the following season I'd be allowed to go.

I gave absolutely everything last season but it was not enough to give us a top-four finish—now all I want is for Liverpool to honour our agreement.

This is about the club having agreed to something both verbally and in the contract which they are now not honouring.

"

According to the former Ajax star, it wasn't just a gentleman's agreement but also a contractual edit that ensured the buyout would come into effect.

It is also alleged that Brendan Rodgers assured Suarez he would personally make sure he could leave should his first season in charge end in failure to qualify for the UCL.

There aren't a lot of surprises in the content, and all the interview does is confirm many suspicions people hold: Rodgers and John Henry want Suarez to stay, Suarez wants to leave and the contract clause is a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The surprise—or, you might say, the extreme irony—is that Suarez is using one of the most powerful tools at his fingertips (the British media) to force a move, when just a few months previous he blamed the very same tools for his unhappiness in England and the Premier League.

Lowe broaches the subject in the interview:

"

I had just arrived in Uruguay where the press are very good to me because I am one of theirs.

They asked me about the press in England. What am I supposed to say? Of course I don't like the fact that my wife goes to the supermarket and there are photographers.

But I realise that the press attention is the same wherever you go.

"

The June 11 interview came across as bitter, as if Suarez felt deeply pained by the treatment. "I'm South American and I think that's the root of all of this," he offered up.

Because of his comments about his treatment from the media—which included his belief that he will never win an award in England because he simply isn't liked—many felt Real Madrid was the only possible destination for him.

And according to James Olley at The London Evening Standard, the Uruguayan still favours a switch to the Bernabeu.

But future destination aside for now, the irony was not lost on journalists and writers—both present and furiously scribbling or reading late on Tuesday night.

Suarez is using the entity he hates the most, and blames for his discomforts, to achieve his goal of moving on.

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