Brendan Rodgers: Denies making promise to Suarez

Suarez - the subject of two failed Arsenal offers - insists Rodgers and the club gave him assurances he could quit Anfield for any fee above £40m if Liverpool failed to qualify for this season's Champions League.

The Uruguay striker is ready to go to the Premier League to force a transfer but, speaking after a friendly against Valerenga in Norway on Wednesday, Rodgers rubbished Suarez's claims and told him other clubs would have "thrown him to the garbage" by now.

"There were no promises made - categorically none - and no promises broken," the manager said.

"The club and his representatives had several conversations and he knew exactly where he was at.

"I will take strong, decisive action. There has been total disrespect of the club. This is a club that is historically one of the biggest in the world and has given him everything - absolutely everything.

"I don't believe there is a clause in his contract that says he can leave for any sort of price."

There were reports in Thursday's newspapers that Suarez was being forced to train alone and, while Rodgers stopped short of making that public, he admitted there are "a few bridges to cross" before he will consider the striker for selection.

Respect

"We first of all need to assess where (the situation) is," he said. "Things have been said that are derogatory against the football club, his team-mates and the supporters.

"It's about respect - that's the only thing we look for. This is one of the most iconic football clubs in the world. You can't disrespect it."

On the prospect of an apology, he added: "That's something I will ensure before anything happens in the future.

"We have a standard at Liverpool that I will fight for my life to retain. There will never be any player or person bigger than the club.

"The Liverpool way is all about a club with ambition, a club that strives to be the very best, a club that is about commitment. That means that everyone is committed to the cause of fighting for the shirt.

"It's also about dignity and being dignified in how you speak about the club, on and off the field, and it's about unity.

"Those are the four values that run through my mind when I think about Liverpool. Those are the values we will always retain. If anyone steps outside of that standard, I will deal with it. That's something that we'll do.

"Professionally, Luis Suarez has given me everything since I came into the football club but there is obviously a way in which you have to speak.

"This is a club that has offered Luis Suarez the utmost respect since the day he walked through the door. That's something that over the course of the coming weeks you need to have, when you work for Liverpool Football Club.

"You've got supporters and players that have given Luis Suarez absolutely everything, they backed him to the hilt. Even at the weekend, when we had Steven Gerrard's testimonial game, the supporters raised the roof for him.

"That's something that I will always fight to retain at the football club, because that is what Liverpool is about. Respect, humility and real dignity."