The Northern Irishman feels that his star forward is now “up there with the top players in the world”, after putting his attempts to secure a summer transfer behind him

Brendan Rodgers believes that Luis Suarez’s decision to stay at Liverpool has been vindicated following the forward’s exceptional start to the season.

The Uruguayan expressed a desire to leave Anfield for a Champions League club in the summer but ultimately stayed after the Reds rejected the advances of Premier League rivals Arsenal.

Suarez has since put the events of the transfer window behind him, displaying blistering form with 13 goals in nine outings in England’s top flight.

After the 26-year-old scored four in a 5-1 demolition of Norwich City on Wednesday, Reds boss Rodgers told reporters: “Luis is extremely happy at Liverpool.

“We don’t want to regurgitate things from the past. It was a difficult summer, he understood where we were at and that we want to keep our best players here.

“He is absolutely loving life at Liverpool here at the moment; he’s certainly up there with the top players in the world at this moment.

“He certainly feels vindicated for wanting to stay here. Hopefully in the coming years he can achieve what he wants to achieve and play at the top level of the game [with Liverpool].”