Liverpool have been blessed with a number of top strikers over the years, with Robbie Fowler arguably being one of the best.
Nicknamed ‘God’ by Reds supporters, Liverpool haven’t had much better in terms of pure goalscorers.
But when it comes to ranking the best of the best – Fowler tends to miss out, with other Reds forwards claiming top spot in many people’s eyes.
One name who is often included in that conversation though, is Luis Suarez – with the Uruguayan’s 82 goals living long in the memory of Reds supporters.
Some have even claimed Suarez is Liverpool’s greatest striker, that is despite the premature end to his Reds career.
In 2014, Suarez would leave Anfield in a transfer to Barcelona – a departure which Fowler had a ‘problem’ with.
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Robbie Fowler didn’t like how Luis Suarez left Liverpool
Suarez was a ‘maverick’ for Liverpool during his three-year stint at the club, with goals nearly firing the Reds to an unlikely Premier League title in 2014.
Despite his brilliance, though, not everyone is a fan of how Suarez conducted himself in Merseyside.
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Fowler has been vocal on Liverpool’s strikers and in 2019 he didn’t hold back when talk about Suarez’s exit from Anfield.
Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s iconic win over Barcelona, Fowler claimed that Reds supporters show the Uruguayan too much love considering the way he left the club.
“I am a big fan of him (Suarez) as a player, don’t get me wrong. I thought he was brilliant when he was here (Liverpool) but I have a big problem with how the fans love him.
“I really do because he left Liverpool and people were saying he can go play for Barcelona etc, but it was the way he left Liverpool, he actually wanted to move to Arsenal.
“Then all of a sudden people will go ‘oh well he stayed and he was still brilliant, never downed tools’. He only started playing well because he wanted to leave. He wanted to go to Arsenal.
“That’s what annoys me about the Liverpool fans. Michael (Owen) won’t like me saying this, but Michael did far more for this club than he ever did.”
Suarez on why he wanted to join Arsenal
Like Fowler mentioned, Suarez leaving for a club like Barcelona was almost accepted by the fanbase – a move to Arsenal, however, would not have been greeted as nicely.
With that being said, Suarez could have actually ended up playing for the Gunners in 2013, if it wasn’t for Arsenal’s notoriously cheeky £40,000,001 bid which scuppered any possible negotiations.
Suarez spoke on his possible Arsenal move in 2021, telling UEFA.com he wanted to leave Liverpool for Champions League football.
“Back then, I had opportunities to sign for other clubs who were getting in contact with me, but he phoned me when I was in Uruguay on holiday, to tell me that he had another way of thinking, that he wanted to change the club and its philosophy, that he wanted the club to get back in the Champions League and fight to win big trophies, that he was going to make the team play great football.
Luis Suarez’s Liverpool stats Apps Goals Assists Goals per game
133 82 31 0.62
“He asked me to believe and trust him. I enjoyed that chat. I liked his conviction, the philosophy he wanted to implement at the club, so I talked to my agent and the club to say that I didn’t want to leave, that I wanted another opportunity to be successful at Liverpool.
“That year wasn’t as good as we wanted, but ideas were already pretty clear. So then the 2012-13 season goes by, and I wanted to sign for Arsenal, since Arsenal had played in the Champions League every season prior to that.”