'There is no guarantee that Luis Suarez will shine beside Lionel Messi at Barcelona'- Jamie Carragher

So it is official: Luis Suarez has gone the way of Michael Owen and Fernando Torres, to seek a fresh challenge after lighting up the Barclays Premier League in Liverpool red.

During my 16 years at Liverpool Suarez, Owen and Torres were the three best strikers I played alongside (Robbie Fowler was not at his peak when I was making my way in the first team), but Suarez was top of that all-star list. Luis used to do things on the pitch that were so audacious, you could only laugh in amazement.

But now here’s the question: will he get the same kind of adulation in Camp Nou as he did at Anfield?

Or will he end up like Owen and Torres, searching for affection and struggling to replicate the devastating goals-per-game ratio they had in their Merseyside pomp?

There was a reason Owen and Torres never recreated what they had done for Liverpool. Our team was built around them and, in Steven Gerrard, they had someone to supply them with killer balls; their pace was perfect for Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez, who liked to destroy teams on the counter-attack.

Suarez was afforded a similar indulgence. Don’t forget Brendan Rodgers jettisoned Andy Carroll as soon as he arrived in 2012 and constructed a side around his No 7. Suarez was good for Rodgers with the goals he scored but, equally, Rodgers was good for Suarez and gave him licence to roam.

Clearly, Luis can be a star for Barcelona. He has the ability to play with any player and thrive for any club but it is not a given, by any means, that he will simply turn up in Catalonia and replicate what he was doing for Liverpool.

For all that we admire Barcelona, for all that we have marvelled at how tiki-taka has changed our perceptions of how the game should be played, they are not an easy team to play for — you don’t just pull on that distinctive jersey and join in the fun, particularly if you are a striker.

I thought a move to Real Madrid would have been more natural for him. Yes, Ronaldo is the star but Luis is a better player than Karim Benzema and he would have played in his rightful position — straight down the middle.

Liverpool will desperately miss him, there can be no disputing that, but the time was right for him to leave and the club have got the best cash deal they could, as was the case when Torres headed to Chelsea in January 2011.

What they must make sure does not happen is falling into the trap Tottenham did 12 months ago of spending a giant windfall on players about whom nobody is sure where they play or what they do. They have to use this finance to build on the foundations Suarez helped lay last season.