Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has told talkSPORT it was the right time for Luis Suarez to leave Anfield and that the club can still progress without their star striker.

The controversial Uruguayan scored 31 Premier League goals last season as the Reds finished surprising runners-up to Manchester City.

However, since then the controversial 27-year-old has completed a £75million move to Barcelona and many assume the Merseyside outfit will not be as effective.

But Rodgers does not see it that way and believes he has enough talent in his squad to cope without the former Ajax striker.

“Luis was a fantastic player, a world class talent and whatever issues he brought off the field, he was a sheer joy to work with,” the Northern Irishman told Drivetime.

“He obviously let himself down a number of times and it was the right time for him to go from here. But we’ve brought in a number of players this summer. We put it into context and we needed the players.

“In the time I’ve been here and with the money that’s been spent we’ve gone from seventh position to second position in two years and that’s with a lot less budget. The budget has been really trim here.

“We’ve put our faith in young players, which has brought a great energy into the club, and using the great players we have who have experience like Steven Gerrard.”

Rodgers also pointed to how 70 per cent of the Reds’ goals came from other areas of the team last season and hinted they will try to tighten up at the back to compensate for the loss of Suarez.

“You can’t replace Luis Suarez but you’ve got to replace the goals. But we got 101 goals last year, so we can afford to be better defensively, score a few less goals and still be challenging,” the former Swansea chief continued.

“It’s about players maturing, taking extra responsibility and stepping forward – that’s the idea. When Luis played we scored goals but when he didn’t play, we scored goals and won games.

“Luis benefitted from the team as well as being a world class player. When I came here a few years ago he was never renowned as a prolific goalscorer, everyone actually talked about how many chances he missed. He made himself prolific but the team really helped Luis as well.

“So hopefully that’s what people saw last year – that the start [when Suarez was banned] was really the whole team [performing] and if we can continue like that, then we can continue winning.”