Liverpool owner John Henry has questioned why Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool to sign for Barcelona and cannot understand why any player would leave Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side face Real Madrid on Saturday in the Champions League final with a chance of winning the title for a sixth time, and Henry has suggested Suarez and Coutinho have missed an opportunity as they will be watching the match rather than playing for Liverpool.
Coutinho joined Barcelona in January for £146m and Suarez completed a £75m move in 2014, although the Uruguay international has won the competition since leaving the Premier League club.
“Maybe it’s because I’m an American, but I have a difficult time understanding why anyone would want to leave Liverpool,” Henry told The Associated Press.
“The club is so rich in history and tradition, supported by so many millions around the world, in virtually every country of the world.
“You don’t want to be in the position where players want to go somewhere else, even if it is a great club like Barcelona.
“It’s hard to understand why players would want to go to a league where the competition is so weak. They must play 30 or so meaningless matches per year waiting for Champions League matches.
“They’ll be watching this weekend and could have been playing.
“But [FSG president] Mike Gordon, [sporting director] Michael Edwards and everyone in our scouting department have done a terrific job in making the best of those two difficult situations.”
The champions League final kicks off at 7.45pm in the NSC Olimpiyskiy stadium.