Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has reiterated his opinion that Real Madrid star Federico Valverde reminds him of Reds icon Steven Gerrard amid rumours over a move to Anfield.
The Uruguayan midfielder has sparkled at the Santiago Bernabeu over recent seasons having played a key role in two La Liga victories, as well as the Champions League success last term. His form in the Spanish capital, as well as in the showpiece European final against the Reds in the summer, saw Valverde garner plenty of admirers - Liverpool being among those.
AS suggested that the Merseyside outfit were willing to fork out up to £87m on Valverde in an attempt to bolster their midfield options. In the end, a move did not come to fruition with Juventus playmaker Arthur Melo arriving at Anfield on a season-long loan deal instead.
Jurgen Klopp could well be ruing that decision with Suarez claiming that Valverde reminds him of former Liverpool teammate Gerrard.
As quoted by Spanish outlet Marca, the striker said: “Honestly, and there are the newspaper archives, already in 2017, when Fede debuted in the National Team, I already said that he reminded me of Steven Gerrard, who was my teammate at Liverpool.
“He has similar conditions. A box to box, with punch, change of pace, a lot of arrival… I don’t want to compare, but the characteristics are similar. I saw Fede coming and he has made tremendous progress, surrounded by big stars. He did very well.”
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Valverde arrived at Real Madrid from Penarol in 2016 and has gone on to accumulate 157 appearances for Los Blancos since following a loan spell with Deportivo La Coruna.
Whilst naturally a defensive midfielder, the 24-year-old has developed a taste for going forwards having already scored four goals in all competitions so far this season - making this term already the joint-most prolific of his career to date.
He still has just under five years left to run on his contract with Los Blancos so it appears that he is set to stay with his current employers for the foreseeable future.
The same cannot quite be said of ex-Liverpool star Suarez. The striker only sealed an emotional return to former side Nacional in the summer but the club president Jose Fuentes has already confirmed that he will be exiting the club once the season concludes.
Speaking earlier this month, he said: "When the Uruguayan Championship ends, Suarez will leave, that’s how we arranged his deal. It’s what we agreed and he made a huge effort to come here.
"I say this to avoid generating fan expectations. Suarez is leaving. We’ve asked him, and he answered the same thing as before."
