'We did everything we could as a club to keep Luis,' said Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers to 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.'

Luis Suarez just recently signed up for Barcelona for a deal amounting to around $100 million or £75 million. Even though Suarez was not present during his own unveiling, the football club said that the Uruguayan striker was a '100 percent' Barca player.

'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.'

Luis Suarez has been banned for four months and nine matches because he bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini in Brazil during the previous World Cup. However, the Liverpool boss does not see this as a reason for Suarez's move.

Nevertheless, he expresses his thanks to the infamous 27- year- old forward for his services to Liverpool for the previous seasons.

'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.

'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.

'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.'

with reports from: dailymail.co.uk