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Liverpool FC have been here before – locked in discussions about whether Luis Suarez is more trouble than he’s worth.

Owners Fenway Sports Group, chief executive Ian Ayre and manager Brendan Rodgers find themselves dealing with the fallout from another deeply disturbing episode in the career of the Uruguayan.

As the striker exited the World Cup in disgrace and headed for his homeland, his club were left coming to terms with the severity of his punishment for sinking his teeth into the left shoulder of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.

The Reds kept their sense of shock and devastation under wraps. A short statement from Ayre merely confirmed that they would wait until they had read the FIFA disciplinary commission’s report before making any further comment.

Watch: Liverpool reacts to Luis Suarez's four-month ban

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There will be no knee-jerk, emotive reactions – Liverpool intend to let the dust settle and compose themselves as they consider all their options.

This was worse, much worse than anyone inside Anfield anticipated. They knew FIFA would throw the book at him but history pointed to a suspension only applying to internationals.

As it turned out FIFA went much further – his nine-match ban for Uruguay accompanied by a four-month suspension from all football which has massive implications for Liverpool.

If the appeal from the Uruguayan FA is unsuccessful, Suarez will be sidelined until late October – missing up to 13 club matches, including the opening three Champions League group games.

The fact that Liverpool are being punished for the behaviour of one of their players on international duty is unprecedented.

That’s why the Reds are now taking legal advice to establish exactly where they stand. They will question whether it can be right that they aren’t allowed to play any part in a disciplinary process which has a huge impact on their plans for the new season.

They had no contact with either FIFA or the Uruguayan FA prior to the punishment being announced and want to know how the verdict was reached and what formed Suarez’s defence.

There is also the small matter of where they stand over Suarez’s wages. His £200,000 per week salary means over the course of his ban they would be paying him in excess of £3million when he can’t step foot inside Anfield.

Some Liverpool fans have bemoaned that Suarez has been harshly treated.

Italy’s Mauro Tassotti was only banned for eight internationals for shattering Luis Enrique’s nose with an elbow in USA 1994, while Zinedine Zidane got three matches following his infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi during the World Cup Final in 2006.

Croatia’s Josip Simunic is sitting out the current World Cup after being suspended for 10 matches for leading pro-Nazi chants.

Yet it is difficult to have any sympathy for Suarez. He may not have done Chiellini any lasting damage but what he did with the eyes of the world watching was despicable.

The commission took into account that this was his third biting offence in the space of four years – having got seven matches for assaulting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal and then 10 games for sinking his teeth into Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.

Just as Suarez’s lack of contrition wound up the FA panel after his bust-up with Ivanovic – when he refused to acknowledge that he deserved more than the standard three-game ban – so all the denials and talk of a witchhunt from the Uruguayan camp on Tuesday will have counted against him with FIFA. There still hasn’t been an apology.

Ultimately, Liverpool are left counting the immense cost of being badly let down by a player they have bent over backwards for.

In the wake of Suarez’s eight-game ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra in October 2011 and then following his bite on Ivanovic in April 2013 they opted to stand by their man.

When he tried to engineer a move away from Anfield last summer, they fought to keep him and then rewarded his outstanding form with a lucrative new contract which made him the highest paid player in the club’s history.

Rodgers and top sports psychiatrist Dr Steve Peters devoted time and energy into helping Suarez deal with his problems.

After he produced the best form of his career en route to being crowned Footballer of the Year, his manager spoke glowingly about how his prized asset had matured both on and off the field. He believed Suarez was a reformed character.

The question is what do Liverpool do now? Yes, they boast one of the greatest talents on the planet but he’s also a liability.

If his latest ban stands he will have sat out 33 Liverpool games through suspension in less than three years – despite having never been shown a red card. A player of less ability would have been shown the door long ago.

Some will argue that enough’s enough – that he has tarnished the club’s name once too often and the Reds should cash in this summer.

Yet there are only two clubs who could afford to buy Suarez. And it remains to be seen whether Barcelona and Real Madrid have been put off by the striker’s conduct in Brazil.

Even if they do still come knocking the fact that Suarez won’t be able to kick a ball in anger until late October will mean the offers on the table will be greatly reduced.

A week ago Rodgers believed he would either have Suarez leading the line come August or around £80million to fill the gaping void. As it turns out he will have neither.

The club’s owners are unlikely to sanction any sale at a knockdown price knowing that if Suarez has the same kind of impact as he did on his return from suspension last season then his value will soon rocket again.

Not for the first time Suarez has put his employers in a desperately difficult situation. Whatever they decide to do they will be open to criticism.

Suarez should have been lauded as one of the stars of the World Cup. Instead he has given Liverpool an almighty headache which threatens to have serious ramifications for the new campaign.

Live: Luis Suarez banned from World Cup and ALL football for four months - latest reaction

For all the latest on the Luis Suarez situation, click here