Liverpool Tried to Keep Luis Suarez – Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says the club are working hard to replace Luis Suarez following confirmation of his move to Barcelona.

The Catalan club confirmed the capture of Suarez on Wednesday but were unable to officially unveil him due to his ongoing four-month Fifa ban from football related activities for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup.

Despite signing a new contract last year, Liverpool eventually caved to Suarez's desire to move to Spain but Rodgers has revealed the club did everything in their power to retain the Uruguay international.

"We did everything we could as a club to keep Luis," Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo.

"He wanted to go and play in Spain, and unfortunately when a player no longer wants to play for you, we need as a club to look at it.

"It was his decision for him to go, he's gone to Barcelona, a club he wanted to play for and now we'll move on.

"I'm not sure if he would have gone regardless of the World Cup. But I never felt that towards the end of the season, and likewise he never said he would give us another year either. He had obviously signed a new deal so we had that.

"But I think we have had great service out of Luis and it's one that we can't worry too much about now, it's done, it's gone and our focus is here."

Aside from the loss of Suarez, Liverpool have made a string of impressive additions during the summer transfer window with Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Emre Can and Lazar Markovic all moving to Anfield.

But with Suarez now gone Liverpool are eager to sign a replacement and Rodgers confirms the club are working overtime in order to identify a worthy replacement.

"There is a lot of work going on with the recruitment team in terms of getting in the right player and I am sure we can identify that," he said.

"This club and many other clubs have shown over a period of time you move on, and believe me, it will be a really exciting season for us."