Apr 17, 2013 03:15 AM EDT
Liverpool Transfer News: Luis Suarez is Not for Sale, Insists Ian Ayre

Liverpool again stressed their intention to keep Luis Suarez at Anfield for the foreseeable future, as the prolific forward continues to be linked with a move away in the summer.

The Reds have endured another fairly disappointing season, with Brendan Rodgers' men out of contention for a top-four place, while Merseyside rivals Everton are likely to finish ahead of them in the English Premier League for a second straight season.

That has led to suggestions Suarez could leave at the end of the season, with Bayern Munich and Juventus tracking the striker.

Suarez, himself admitted he could move on, at the end of next season, if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League next year. However, Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre insisted the club have no plans to sell Suarez.

"To play at the highest level in the Premier League and European soccer, you need players like Luis and Steven Gerrard on your team," he told Sports Illustrated.

"So the last thing in our mind is selling Luis Suarez. He's not for sale. It's not something we're interested in.

"I remember when they (Fenway Sports Group) bought the team, John (Henry) made a comment in the media: We don't want to just build a team to win but to keep winning. To do that you have to have a number of world-class players on your team."

Ayre also explained in detail Liverpool's transfer policies and how a big group helps Rodgers in making a decision on buying a player.

"We were very pleased with the most recent window in January with Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge," Ayre added. "It's a combination of skills and people and processes that bring us to what we're trying to achieve.

"I think the fundamental shift particularly around player acquisitions and disposals was that we took the view that it needs to be more of a science. Your biggest expenditure line can't be the whim of any individual.

"What we believe, and we continue to follow, is you need many people involved in the process. That doesn't mean somebody else is picking the team for Brendan. But Brendan needs to set out with his team of people which positions we want to fill and what the key targets would be for that.

"He has a team of people that go out and do an inordinate amount of analysis work to establish who are the best players in that position.

"It's a combination of old-school scouting and watching players -- and that's Brendan, his assistants, our scouts -- with statistical analysis of players across Europe and the rest of the world.

"By bringing those two processes together, you get a much more educated view of who you should and shouldn't be buying. And perhaps as fundamentally, how much you should be paying and the structure to those contracts.

"I think we've had relatively good success since we deployed that methodology. We're getting better all the time. Just as you think our football is getting better, our transfer activity is getting better."

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