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Ayre hints Liverpool will open Suarez talks in summer

Liverpool are keen to keep Luis Suarez beyond 2016 © Getty Images

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Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has suggested the club will hold talks with Luis Suarez over a contract extension in the summer, in a bid to convince the forward to remain at Anfield long-term.

Suarez still has nearly four years remaining on the five-and-a-half year deal he signed with the Premier League club when he moved from Ajax in January 2011, but questions about his future on Merseyside remain following a controversial few months at the club.

Suarez was banned for eight matches by the Football Association after being found guilty of making racially aggravated and insulting comments towards Manchester United defender Patrice Evra earlier in the season and, while Liverpool attracted widespread criticism for their staunch support of the Uruguayan, reports suggest the forward is keen to leave a league where he feels persecuted.

Suarez has publicly claimed that is not the case, however, and now Ayre has hinted that he will attempt to extend the player's deal in the summer to tie him to the club for the foreseeable future. Even if that is not possible, Liverpool will not consider a sale.

"Listen, he's got a contract until 2016, he has said he wants to stay. I am sure [director of football] Damien [Comolli] will be speaking to his agent," said Ayre. "Who wouldn't want Luis Suarez? He is absolutely fantastic. He is such a popular member of our team.

"But they are the things we talk about behind closed doors, and we will further that discussion when it is right and proper.

"Luis is a vital and important part of our set-up, and long may that continue."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.