Loyalty is ‘overplayed’ says retired Anfield stalwart.
Jamie Carragher says Real Madrid target Luis Suarez should not be blinded by loyalty to Liverpool if he is offered the chance to further his career this summer.
Suarez has made no secret of his desire to leave Anfield, with the La Liga giants thought to be keen on the £40m-rated Uruguayan.
Since he arrived on Merseyside in January 2011, Liverpool have supported the forward amid a number of controversies, including the Patrice Evra racism row in 2011 and his bite on Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic and the resulting 10-game ban, which he is still serving.
But Carragher, who played with Suarez for two-and-a-half seasons and retired this summer after 17 years as a Liverpool player, believes his former teammate should do what’s right for his career if a deal can be struck between Real and Liverpool.
“Luis Suarez can’t stay at Liverpool forever just because they’ve supported him in certain situations,” Carragher, who is due to start work as a pundit for Sky Sports next season, told the broadcaster.
“Liverpool were right to support him because he’s their player but if he wasn’t a very good player and wasn’t producing on the pitch then Liverpool would sell him. Are they being loyal to a player if they sell him?
“I don’t think Luis can be held to the club forever because they’ve stood by him in certain situations. You could argue that after the racism situation with Evra then he stayed last year because I’m sure he would have had offers last summer.
“I think loyalty in football, from both sides, is overplayed a bit. Basically Liverpool are loyal to Luis Suarez because he’s such a good player and Luis has got to think of his own career and what he wants to achieve.”
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