Liverpool told to up bid for Suarez

Liverpool were today considering their next move after a £12.7m bid for Luis Suarez was dismissed by Ajax – as Ryan Babel agreed his own U-turn transfer to Hoffenheim.

In a frantic 24 hours, the Reds tabled an offer for the Uruguay striker after director of football strategy Damien Comolli travelled to Amsterdam yesterday to try and thrash out a deal for the 23-year-old.

Ajax have told the Frenchman to approach them with a more 'respectful' offer for the forward, who scored three times at the World Cup in South Africa as Uruguay made the semi-fnals.

A club spokesman said: "We'll have to wait for them to come back with something more respectful.

"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 15m euros (£12.7m) 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."

The move for Suarez comes as Babel was set to seal his move to TSG Hoffenheim.

The 24-year-old will fly to the German club today to finalise the deal to the Bundesliga side after finally agreeing upon the switch.

It comes seven days after the Reds and the TSG 1899 club settled upon a fee for the Dutchman.

Babel has spent the last week contemplating the offer, and it was initially thought he had turned down the transfer as he had his heart set on returning to former club Ajax.

Yesterday morning, Reds manager Kenny Dalglish told a press conference the winger had decided to remain at Anfield.

But in an apparent U-turn, Babel has now committed to Hoffenheim, in a deal believed to be valued at £5.8m.

The player came to Liverpool in 2007 and scored 22 goals in 146 appearances, but he never truly convinced at Anfield where there was uncertainty over his best position.

Ajax are reportedly holding out for a fee of around £25m for Suarez, but Liverpool may have to propose an offer of between £18-20m before the Eredivisie club entertain any suggestion of their striker heading for Merseyside.

Source: Liverpool Echo

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