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Champs Lg not vital to Suarez's Liverpool future

Luis Suarez has been in sparkling form for Liverpool © Getty Images

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Luis Suarez has insisted his Liverpool future is not tied to Champions League qualification.

Suarez is one of the world's premier forwards, but Liverpool have missed out on Champions League qualification since Suarez joined the club in 2011.

He has flourished at Anfield, and has one piece of silverware to his name courtesy of the League Cup, but he yearns to test himself against the elite.

Liverpool are climbing the table following a poor start to life under Brendan Rodgers, but failure to secure a top-four finish will not see Suarez turn his back on Liverpool.

"I will wait until the end of the season and see how we are doing," Suarez told the Daily Mail. "We won't know until then how we are doing and what our position is so I am prepared to wait until that time. But I want to say now that, if you want to know what will happen to me if we don't qualify for the Champions League, then I will say this: I have a contract with Liverpool and I am very happy here. I will stay."

Suarez is the focal point of the Liverpool attack, but Steven Gerrard is still the leader of the pack and the Uruguayan has huge respect for the England captain - claiming it is 'crazy' he has never won the Premier League.

"Gerrard is such a good player and what he said about me I will never forget, it's unbelievable," Suarez said. "He has such a good record over many years in the English game and is a great example to all the players here, especially to me.

"We all respect him. He has won almost everything and if anything goes wrong on the pitch he never tells the players off. He just speaks to them afterwards and when he speaks to them you can take it as a fact that he is right. He is just trying to help people.

"It's incredible that Steven hasn't won a championship. Crazy. It must be like having a fishbone stuck in his throat. It is permanently irritating to him. I can't really believe it. You still have to recognise he is an outstanding player.

"He is a legend in the club and has lifted the Champions League for this club. That makes him special. After all, how many players in Europe have actually done that?"

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