Six months ago, many believed, even hoped, that Luis Su¨¢rez had played his last game for Liverpool.

The Uruguayan¡¯s CV already included a racist charge for abusing Patrice Evra of Manchester United; to that he added cannibalism after biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during a game at Anfield last April.

During the summer Su¨¢rez did all he could to engineer a move to Real Madrid, and while Tottenham sold its prize asset, Gareth Bale, to the Spanish club for ?80 million, Liverpool, which said its striker would not leave, was good to its word.