Brendan Rodgers has dismissed suggestions that Liverpool will struggle without Luis Suárez, insisting that they have both the personnel and the transfer strategy to continue making progress after the controversial forward completed his £75 million move to Barcelona yesterday.

Speaking on the day that Suárez was confirmed as a Barcelona player by Nou Camp officials, Rodgers claimed that Liverpool had done everything in their power to keep the Uruguay forward but were powerless to prevent his departure.

Any sense of loss over the departure of last season’s outstanding Barclays Premier League performer has been tempered by Rodgers’s confidence that Liverpool can still improve in his absence. Rather than be intimidated by the prospect of replacing Suárez, the Liverpool manager maintains that he is excited by