Gus Poyet hopes under-fire Liverpool striker and fellow Uruguayan Luis Suarez won’t be forced to leave the Premier League.
The Brighton manager’s side meet Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round this weekend, bringing the two compatriots together at Anfield.
Suarez has been subject to fierce criticism since being charged and found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, then refusing his handshake before last week’s clash at Old Trafford.
However, Poyet hopes that recent events won’t push the 25-year-old striker out of the country.
Poyet told The Mirror, “I am a fan and I want him to play in England, so I just hope that everything for Luis from now on is normal.
“I hope he stays here, but I am not sure,” he said. “There are decisions you have to make in life and it depends very much on how things go for him in the next four months.”
The 44-year-old Championship manager explained how they are in frequent contact and that they spoke upon Suarez’s arrival in England.
“We are in contact – I would say in six months we have spoken 10 or 15 times.
“I called him because if someone is coming from Uruguay I like to make them welcome and see if they need help with anything.”
Despite this, he claims that the recent turmoil could not have been prevented or foreseen. “I didn’t expect anything like this to happen, so it’s very difficult to advise in advance.
“You cannot go through every single thing that could happen. But we talked about the normal things about football in England.”
Poyet highlighted the media circus surrounding Suarez and suggested that too much is being made of incidents involving the striker.
“Look at the other day, he goes to volley a ball and has his eyes only on the ball but he volleys the stomach of Scott Parker and we watch it on television 150 times. If it wasn’t Suarez we wouldn’t be watching.”
Despite this he is confident he will be able to settle and get back to playing to the best of his ability for his club.
“I am certain he will come back and play well for Liverpool. For Luis, football and family are everything, the most important things in life.
“As soon as he goes through the tunnel and on to the pitch, that’s his life. He will die to play football and he will do it every week – it doesn’t matter what else has gone on.”