Luis Suárez scored 23 Premier League goals last season Photo: Back Page Images

John Barnes claims that modern football fans are to blame for the situation surrounding Luis Suárez – and is not at all surprised to see the striker demand to leave the club.

The 26-year-old Arsenal target has made public his desire to quit Liverpool for a club in the Champions League in the last few days, despite the Reds’ insistence that he is not for sale.

But Barnes feels that modern-day supporters should not be surprised to see such situations arise, because fans have made the players “untouchable”.

“Why are you so surprised? This situation has been going on for years,” Barnes told talkSPORT.

“I said when [Fernando] Torres signed [for Liverpool], ‘don’t fall in love with him because if he decides he’s going to go, don’t be surprised’. And I said the same about Suárez.

“This is the future of modern football we have created. The media and especially the fans have empowered players too much to make them feel that a) they are better than their team-mates and b) they’re better than their clubs.

“We’ve seen it at Arsenal where so many players have left because Arsenal cannot match their ambitions, and the fans are the ones who have created this superstar culture whereby you’ve separated the team and the superstars to feel more important than the club.

“What has empowered him and the likes of Torres is they feel team is losing not because of them but because of their team-mates.

“Suárez is saying he needs to go because they’ve not qualified for the Champions League, but he was part of the team that failed to do that. He has to take responsibility for that. He’s saying, ‘I’ve done my job, I’m good enough, but the players I’m playing with aren’t’.

“Our superstar players feel they are untouchable. We’ve gone too far and there’s no way back.

“The fans have a lot to answer for. Don’t fall in love with players because they will leave given the right circumstances.

“Support the club, support the group and then, if any player wants to step out of line, we won’t support him. Maybe then they won’t get over-inflated egos and behave the way they do.”