Luis Suarez must beware curse of leaving Liverpool should he move to Barcelona

Luis Suarez appears to be on the brink of trading in Merseyside for the glamour of Catalonia after Liverpool and Barcelona engaged in formal discussions this week over a proposed £72million move.

However, he may proceed with caution as a Sportsmail study can reveal that those strikers who shine brightest at Anfield often fail to hit the same heights after exciting one of England’s most famous football clubs.

Fernando Torres and Michael Owen both departed Liverpool at the peak of their career – the Spaniard for Chelsea and Owen for Real Madrid – but neither forward was able to replicate their striking process at their new homes.

Torres boasted a stunning goalscoring record at Liverpool, netting 65 goals in 102 Premier League games but his form has deserted since, with his strike rate dropping from 0.64 goals per game to 0.18 since he joined Chelsea in a £50m move in January 2011. 

Michael Owen, similarly, struggled for form and fitness after his Anfield departure, with his goalscoring ration diminishing from 0.55 goals per game to 0.31 taking into account his spells with Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City.

adewalecharles's research into the record of Liverpool’s strikers in the Premier League era has uncovered a discernible pattern that suggests that the club’s sharpest shooters fall into decline after leaving, with other Anfield legends such as Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler also reducing their goal output once they advanced their career elsewhere.

Indeed, the only forwards whose records improved after leaving the club were their more maligned names, including Titi Camara, Andriy Voronin, Andy Carroll and El-Hadji Diouf, who have all been filed away in the ‘Do Not Mention’ file at Melwood.

Diouf, a £10m signing by Gerard Houiller following an impressive showing at the 2002 World Cup, is more memorable for his phlegm than his football, scoring just three goals in 55 games for Liverpool before leaving for Bolton, where his record improved considerably.

Other Liverpool cast-offs such as Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Andy Carroll improved after exiting.

England forward Carroll has bettered his record – but only slightly – increasing his goal return from 6 goals in 44 games for Liverpool (0.14 goals per game) to 9 in 39 games for West Ham United (0.23 goals per game).

It remains to be seen whether Suarez will fall the same way as those who believed the grass would be greener in pastures new but it would certainly represent a shift in the narrative of Liverpool forwards in recent times.