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How do you replace a Kop idol? Liverpool FC have been here before and they are here again.

With Luis Suarez on his way to Barcelona for £75m, Brendan Rodgers must replace a player who bagged 31 goals and 13 assists last season as the Reds went so, so close to Premier League glory.

But for every Suarez there is a Kevin Keegan, an Ian Rush or a Fernando Torres.

Phil Thompson was part of Liverpool team that Keegan inspired to a treble of the league championship, League Cup and European Cup in 1977 before signing for Hamburg in a £500,000 deal.

Thompson told the ECHO that big stars come and go, but the club will always remain.

He said: “Liverpool Football Club is bigger than any individual. Players will always move on but this club will still be here in another 100 years time.”

He couldn't have put it any better.

The ECHO has taken a look back at four times when the Reds have parted ways with a major star - only to prosper further down the line.

Kevin Keegan

"Mighty Mouse" broke Liverpool fans' hearts when he announced he was leaving Anfield in the summer of 1977.

Liverpool had just clinched their first ever European Cup, with Keegan leading the charge, when the 27-year-old headed to Hamburg in a £500,000 deal.

Keegan had spent seven years at Anfield and won three League Championships, one FA Cup, two UEFA Cups, a League Cup and the aforementioned European Cup. Keegan had also scored 100 goals in a red shirt.

It was a glittering era for Liverpool fans and they weren't accustomed to their best player wanting to move on.

But move on he did, and Liverpool had no choice but to suck it up and get over it. And spend the money wisely.

Luckily there was a player up in Scotland who had caught Bob Paisley's eye. A certain Kenny Dalglish.

Bolstered by the money from Keegan's move to Hamburg, the Reds shelled out a British record £440,000 for the Scottish international who had scored 167 goals for Celtic in 320 appearances.

It did not take long for Kenny's coronation. He was handed Keegan's number seven shirt and proved he could fill his predecessor's boots - with ease.

Scoring on his league debut, and then his Anfield debut, Dalglish then scored as Keegan's new side Hamburg were swatted aside as Liverpool clinched the UEFA Super Cup. Not a bad way to announce your arrival.

Dalglish scored 31 goals and led the Reds to a second consecutive European Cup, and his chip in the final secured a 1-0 victory over Club Brugges.

The Kop had a brand new darling, King Kenny.

What the ECHO said when Keegan left: Six of Europe’s biggest clubs had been in the hunt for Keegan, who unlocked the door to a goldmine when he agreed to sign for Hamburg in the week between the 1977 FA Cup and European Cup finals, making him Britain’s richest footballer.

“Keegan will find himself made for life,” wrote the ECHO’s Charles Lambert. “In addition to his majestic salary, he can be expected to earn as much again from ancillary actitives.” These include personal appearances, endorsements and television work.

“Keegan will be on his way to a cash bonanza that would make King Midas blink,” added Lambert as Reds fans faced up to life without their all-action number seven.

Ian Rush

Liverpool collected another British transfer fee in 1986 when Ian Rush moved to Italian giants Juventus for £3.2m, leading to widespread disappointment on one half of Merseyside.

The blow was softened by the fact Rush was allowed to play a season on loan for Liverpool before making his debut for Juve, but his impending departure was a bitter pill to swallow.

Suarez may have scored 69 goals for the Reds, but Rush had scored an eye-watering 201 in his seven years at Anfield. He had failed to score over 30 goals in all competitions just once in is Liverpool career, and was coming from a season in which he had bagged 40.

His replacement? A Rush look-a-like signed for £750,000 from unfashionable Oxford United. Scouser John Aldridge was the chosen man.

Could Aldo fill the boots of a legend? Kopites needn't have worried.

After a bedding in period alongside the man he was replacing, Aldridge sprang to life in the 1987/88 season, scoring 29 goals in his first full season, including one in each of the first nine games, as Liverpool walked to the league title by a margin of nine points.

Rush hadn't exactly been forgotten, but Aldridge - alongside John Barnes and Peter Beardsley - formed a much-feared forward trio and played some of the best football in Liverpool's history.

As for Rush, he returned to Anfield after a single season in Juventus - and was welcomed back with open arms.

What the ECHO said when Rush left: “Turin is unashamedly in the grip of Ian Rush fever,” wrote the ECHO’s Ian Ross as the Reds striker closed in on a transfer to the Grand Old Lady of Italian football. The deal landed the Welshman “a cool £1m” and ended 12 months of intense speculation and uncertainty about his future.

The ECHO predicted Rush might soon return to Anfield, and the man himself admitted it was a “huge wrench” to leave Anfield. “It was a tough decision to take. Undoubtedly the toughest of my life,” he admitted.

Michael Owen

When Michael Owen moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2004, most Kopites agreed that the England international wasn't the same striker who had scored 28 goals in 2001-02 and won the European Footballer of the Year award.

Owen had lost some of his pace and had changed his style of play. Regardless, it was still a blow to Reds fans and new manager Rafael Benitez.

There was also the small matter of the transfer fee. With just one year left on Owen's contract, the Reds knew they wouldn't receive a huge sum of money.

As Liverpool faced Grazer AK in the Champions League qualifiers in August, Owen sat on the bench to avoid being cup tied.

The cat was out of the bag.

Owen was on his way. He signed for Real for a fee of £8m. And Antonio Nunez.

It was not exactly the return Liverpool had hoped to receive for a player they had nurtured since the age of 12 and had been their top scorer in every season since 1998.

But Liverpool endured and, despite having just Milan Baros up front after club record signing Djibril Cisse had broken his leg, they went on to lift the Champions League trophy in the most glorious finish to a season imaginable in 2005.

It was the very trophy that Owen had left for pastures new in order to win.

Owen spent a solitary year at the Bernabeu before heading to Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke.

What the ECHO said when Owen left: "Owen is a legend, but LFC is bigger" was one of the many headlines carried in the ECHO in the days surrounding the England striker's move from Merseyside to Madrid. Richard Pedder, Liverpool Supporters Club chairman, summed up the mood of the fans when he said: "I think we have seen the best of Michael Owen." The Reds, meanwhile, were furious over reports Owen had been banished to train with the reserves. "It is absolute rubbish to suggest he is some kind of outcast," said an Anfield official.

Fernando Torres

In the eyes of many Reds fans, he had been sulking for months.

Yes, there had been broken promises. Yes, the Reds had suffered under the ownership of Gillett and Hicks. And yes, Roy Hodgson's management style did not bring out the best in the Spaniard.

There had been rumours of Torres' Anfield departure in the summer of 2010, but he was persuaded to stay and trotted out the same line that football fans have got used to hearing.

He said: "My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed."

It should not really have come as a shock in January 2001 when the Reds - by now under new management and ownership - received £50m for his services, but it still hurt like hell when Torres swapped the red shirt of Liverpool for the blue of Chelsea.

Torres' transfer and Liverpool's shock move for Newcastle striker Andy Carroll dominated the headlines of January 31, 2011 - so it went almost unnoticed when the Reds spent a club record £22m on Ajax striker Luis Suarez.

Suarez came off the bench against Stoke and scored on his debut. He was the best rebound love Kopites could ask for.

Meanwhile, Torres toiled at Stamford Bridge, and never quite looked the same player or felt the love that he did at Anfield.

Suarez went on to score 69 goals for Liverpool, and now it's happening all over again.

What the ECHO said when Torres left: "This hurts Liverpool supporters," wrote the ECHO's Neil Jones. "And the manner in which Torres engineered his switch to west London has left a very sour taste."

But he added: "Bigger names than Fernando Torres have been through the doors at Anfield, and will come through again." And so it proved.

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