Liverpool are preparing to make Luis Suárez the highest-paid player in the club’s history by offering the striker a new contract that would double his wages to about £200,000 a week.

Ian Ayre, the Liverpool managing director, arrived in Spain yesterday to begin negotiations with Pere Guardiola, Suárez’s agent. Ayre has been given the go-ahead by the club’s owner, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), to do everything in his power to try to persuade the Uruguay forward to stay. Suárez’s present deal has 2½ years to run, but Liverpool are keen to reward him for his development into one of the most outstanding players in the world.

Suárez, who arrived at Anfield in January 2011, earns about £100,000 per week in a performance-related contract signed in