Negotiations between Liverpool and Ajax over the potential transfer of striker Luis Suarez hit a snag on Monday morning in Amsterdam, where representatives of each club were apparently upwards of £10 million apart in their valuations of Suarez’s transfer fee.
Those numbers were to believed to be in the £18 million and £28 million range, but according to the BBC, Liverpool’s offer was only £12.7 million ($20.3 million).
Ajax has accordingly struck back, with a spokesman saying that the club is awaiting a “respectful” offer.
“We’ll have to wait for them to come back with something more respectful,” an Ajax spokesman told BBC Sport.
“We want to keep him – at least until the end of the season and preferably for the rest of his contract.”
“If you compare the 15 million euros [£12.7 million] Liverpool want to pay for Suarez with other transfers you can imagine that it’s far too low for us.
“Luis is our top goalscorer for the last three years and also the man with by far the most assists as well.
“He was one of the big guys for Uruguay in helping them come third in the World Cup in the summer and he still has a contract with us for two-and-a-half years.”
Ajax have been said to want a fee comparable to that which Manchester City paid for Edin Dzeko earlier in January, £27 million. While that may be significantly more than Suarez’s estimated £22 million value, Liverpool will surely have to increase their bid from £12.7 million in order to land the Uruguyan star who turned just 24 on Monday.
Liverpool’s bid for Blackpool midfielder Charlie Adam and potential inquiry about Wigan attacker Charles N’Zogbia have also both featured offers far lower than each club’s respective asking price.
Liverpool will need to increase its offers in order to acquire these young stars.
