The Catalan outfit on Wednesday confirmed they had completed a deal with the Reds for Suarez, with the Spanish giants reportedly having forked out around £75million for the Uruguay international’s services.
Barca were, however, unable to present the forward to their fans or local media due to his four-month FIFA ban, which excludes him from all football-related activities, for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.
That incident marked the third time Suarez has bitten an opponent during his professional career, sparking calls for the Anfield outfit to cut their losses and sell the troubled striker, although Rodgers insists that did not factor into their decision.
“We did everything we could as a club to keep Luis,” Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo.
“He wanted to go and play in Spain, and unfortunately when a player no longer wants to play for you, we need as a club to look at it.
“It was his decision for him to go, he’s gone to Barcelona, a club he wanted to play for and now we’ll move on.
“I’m not sure if he would have gone regardless of the World Cup. But I never felt that towards the end of the season, and likewise he never said he would give us another year either. He had obviously signed a new deal so we had that.
“But I think we have had great service out of Luis and it’s one that we can’t worry too much about now, it’s done, it’s gone and our focus is here.
“There is a lot of work going on with the recruitment team in terms of getting in the right player and I am sure we can identify that.
“This club and many other clubs have shown over a period of time you move on, and believe me, it will be a really exciting season for us.”
Read more here Capital Sports