Luiz Suarez rewarded with pay rise

Luis Suarez has been rewarded with a pay rise that will see him
earning in excess of £100,000-a-week at Liverpool, according to
several newspapers reports.

Suarez, 26, agreed a new long-term contract with Liverpool last
summer, with reports suggesting the deal doubled his previous wages
from £40,000-a-week to £80,000-a-week.


And that income has increased further, reports the Times and Telegraph
among others, as the Uruguay international has benefited from
incentive-based terms in his deal - as part of an initiative by owners
Fenway Sports Group.


It is claimed the striker, who has scored 21 goals in 27 Premier
League appearances this season, will earn more than £100,000-a-weekin
light of his excellent form for the Reds.


Suarez signed at Anfield from Ajax for £22 million in January 2011 and
has recently beenlinked with a switch away from the club, amid
reported interest from a number of sides. But Liverpool will hope the
reported pay rise will reinforce the forward's commitment on
Merseyside.


According to Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, Suarez is now a
changed man looking to put his reputation for controversy behind him.

His two years in England have been as notable for trouble as for his
talent. He received an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester
United left-back Patrice Evra during a Premier League match in October
2011, and had repeatedly been accused of diving. In addition, he was
at the centre of controversy when he scored a goal after a clear
handball during Liverpool's 2-1 FA Cup third-round win at Mansfield in
January.


Rodgers believes that Suarez's will to win is a key part of what makes
him a successful player. And those who have worked closely with the
Uruguay international have vouched for the fact that he is just as
competitive on the training pitch.


He said: "His consistency this year has been phenomenal. He is a
remarkable man. What I have admired from close hand is this is a guy
who is trying to change. He has come in here and been labelled many
things - sometimes, maybe, because he is a foreign player he will get
accused more.


"If a British player dives, we'll laugh and find it funny. But when
it's Luis Suarez, he is a diver. But this is a guy who is trying to
turn around his life and adapt to the culture and you can clearly see
that."


Darren Burgess, Liverpool's former head of fitness and conditioning,
gave a fascinating insight into Suarez's character when he left the
club in September last year. Burgess recalled playing in a training
game and being on the end of some ferocious challenges from the
forward.


"Luis Suarez's training intensity is unlike anything I've ever worked
with," Burgess said at the time. "He just cannot lose. He booted the
hell out of me. I looked angrily at him, but he just gesticulated as
if to say: 'When you are on the field, you are one of us.'"


Rodgers believes that intensity is what makesSuarez such a special
player. And he revealed that the 26-year-old managed to score a
hat-trick in last Saturday's 4-0 win at Wigan despite carrying an
injury.


He said: "He was struggling a bit with an injury last weekend, believe
it or not, and nine out of 10 players wouldn't have played but his
threshold for pain is so high. He wanted to play and to have someone
like thatin your team gives you great hope, and gives great
inspiration to other players because he really wants to win for
Liverpool."


Rodgers also believes Suarez can go on to break Robbie Fowler's
Liverpool record of 28 goals in a Premier League campaign.


The manager said: "He's got 10 games to go. The thing with Luis is
that he's really, really hungry. I would expect him over these last
10games to certainly go close to it. If you're talking football, his
consistency this year has been phenomenal."