Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers worked with Barcelona striker Luis Suarez at Liverpool.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has revealed to The Scotsman what he told Luis Suarez when was appointed the Liverpool manager in the summer of 2012.
Suarez joined Premier League club Liverpool form Dutch giants Ajax in January 2011.
According to BBC Sport, the Reds had to pay Ajax a transfer fee of about £22.7 million in order to secure the services of the Uruguay international striker.
The 29-year-old arrived at Anfield with a strong reputation, and he enhanced his name and his game under Rodgers.
Impressive performances, especially during the 2013-14 season when he scored 31 goals and created 87 chances in 33 Premier League appearances, saw Suarez earn the move to Spanish and European powerhouse Barcelona in the summer of 2014.
Rodgers, who was appointed the Celtic manager in the summer, has revealed what he told Suarez when he first took charge of Liverpool.
“When I first went in there I said I wanted to build the team around him,” Rodgers told The Scotsman about Suarez. “I moved Andy Carroll. I thought he was playing in a 4-4-2 system and playing off a second ball.
“He got a lot of stick at that time that he couldn’t score, needed too many chances to get a goal but I wanted to create the team around him.
“I spoke to him in terms of how he would play and how we would get speed and movement around him and get lots of chances and in the two seasons I think he got 30 and 31 goals – in the second season and he was incredible.”
Rodgers and Suarez will face each other on Tuesday evening, when Celtic take on Barcelona away from home in the Champions League.
Barcelona will head into the Group C game at Camp Nou as strong favourites and should register a comfortable win.
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