While last week the worry for many Liverpool fans was that their young Spanish player Jesús Joaquín Fernández Sáez de la Torre aka Suso was to be used as a makeweight with Sevilla for a deal with Alberto Moreno, now their worries will turn to Portugal where speculation indicates the Portuguese giants Porto have made an informal interest with the player.
Suso, who spent the past year on loan at La Liga outfit Almeria joined Liverpool in 2010 amid interest from Real Madrid. At the time it was said the Liverpool manager of the time Rafael Benitez was a big pull for the young Spaniard, though Benitez soon left the club after Suso joined. “I was going to sign for Real Madrid but one day before it the phone rang and Rafael Benitez spoke to me. He convinced me that Liverpool was the club for me and after that I had to change my plans. I was going to come to Liverpool”, said Suso.
Suso quickly rose through the ranks at Liverpool’s academy, starring alongside Raheem Sterling they quickly began to shine brighter than the rest of their group. Suso made his full debut in the autumn of 2012 when the newly appointed manager Brendan Rodgers began to implement a heavy emphasis on youth throughout the side. That summer when Suso featured in the pre-season games for the senior side, most Liverpool supporters were eulogising the youngster, overcome with the excitement of perhaps watching a David Silva lite develop in front of our own eyes – a rare sight for Liverpool fans of my age who hadn’t seen an academy graduate since Steven Gerrard gain a consistent place within the senior side’s starting XI.
Nevertheless Suso lost his place in the starting XI as the season wore on, which was perhaps a fair decision as his output for a playmaker was rather low, his obvious inexperience aside. One notable moment from that season regarding Suso was during a home game at Anfield vs. Wigan where Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers subbed Suso off very early on in the game after Liverpool had lost the lead. Following the substitution Liverpool regained control of the game and duly won the game. Although such an incident shouldn’t particularly paint a teenager in too bad a light considering the fiercely competitive nature of The Premier League, it was just one indication that Suso was not indeed ready for consistent first team football yet.
Another problem for Suso that season was the arrival of the Brazilian playmaker Phillipe Coutinho in the January window from Internazionale. The Brazilian hit the ground running and produced many fine displays in the final half of the season, perhaps further showing the disparity in relative quality of two players of a similar age and position. Nevertheless Suso still had many fans and his drop-off in form and playing time for the senior side wasn’t too dissimilar to that of the young English winger Raheem Sterling who also rarely featured in the latter half of the 2012/13 season.
During last summer it was deemed that the Spaniard would be best served to compete a full season of first team football and set out to Andalusia where he would play for the newly promoted to La Liga UD Almeria. Overall the decision was seen as a sensible one, though the loan abroad indicated perhaps he was not 100% in the long-term plans of the Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.
Suso’s season in Spain went very well though, where he scored three times, assisted seven times and played a hugely influential role in Almeria avoiding relegation to the Segunda, Spain’s second tier in the football pyramid. It wasn’t all rosy for the Cadiz-born player though, where he infamously fell out with the manager over missing training. Subsequently there was a fan back-lash where he was booed during a home game. Although the incident blew over it only added fuel to the fire where rumours of a poor temperament are concerned.
Throughout Suso’s year away he kept himself a part of the Liverpool bubble, using Twitter to show fans he had kept up with results of the brilliantly performing Liverpool side, while on numerous occasions it was reported he had planned to come back to Liverpool. There was also talk that Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was keeping a keen eye on Suso’s development in Spain throughout the year. There was though, claims that contract discussions had not gone smoothly, only adding to the confusion over his future for his many fans.
Currently it has become increasingly clear that Suso is indeed for sale. Suso's agent, Dani Rodriguez, has confirmed talks are ongoing with Porto, stating that with a year left on his contract, interest from the Portuguese league, and suggestions from Sevilla he was only worth a couple of million pounds, it would appear he's for sale for a quite low price.
Suso’s agent, Juame Serra, was quoted on Portugal’s daily O Jogo about his clients clouded future: “I know there's interest from Porto. There have been talks since the end of the Champions League final. Obviously, if there's progress in the negotiations, it will be easy to convince the player. Suso is very fond of Lopetegui.” While O Jogo also claim Suso has been offered a renewal on his Liverpool contract up in 12 months but is worried about the lack of playing time he would get.
Although transfer speculation should rarely be taken too seriously, the passed few months of talk coming from Suso’s camp suggest his future is not so cut and dry which in general would be a great shame for those who expected to much from the young Spaniard when he began lighting up Liverpool’s under-18 side under the manager of former Barcelona youth coach Rodolfo Borrell.
Whether Suso moves on or not remains unclear but one would hope that his move works out best for all parties concerned and is concluded as swiftly as possible. When I wrote my blog piece on Suso in the summer of 2012 I certainly never expected a day where I would be okay with the thought of the player leaving the club. Being the unpredictable nature of player development perhaps in the future I – and others – may not be so hastily judging youth talents in either polarising fashion.