Liverpool target possible Luis Suarez replacement

According to Andy Hunter in today's Guardian, Liverpool are lining up a €25m bid for Atlético Madrid's Brazilian striker Diego Costa:

The Anfield club have moved for the twice-capped Brazil international despite ongoing uncertainty over Luis Suárez's future and having been frustrated on several big-money signings this summer. Liverpool's offer is understood to meet the release clause in Costa's contract and the club are hopeful the 24-year-old, and Atlético, will agree to a deal swiftly. Arsenal, the only club to have made an offer for Suárez, have also been linked with the Brazilian this summer.

Costa scored 20 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions last year for the La Liga side, so he's no slouch. Of course, he had the wonderful fortune of playing alongside Radamel Falcao, which would help a lot of people, but anyway.

The question here, of course, is whether or not this move signals an awareness on Liverpool's end that their strikeforce is going to shrink soon by the mass of exactly one Luis Suarez. There are some dubious rumblings against this assertion:

Liverpool's move for Costa has no bearing on the future of Luis Suarez. Position on that unchanged. No new bids.

— Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) August 1, 2013

Which, coming from the BBC, one'd think carried substantial weight, until one recalled a similar tweet last spring:

Giroud to Arsenal almost done. Announcement this week, not a replacement for RvP. Story across BBC soon, first reported by @JWTelegraph #afc

— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) June 13, 2012

So, yeah. It seems unlikely that Liverpool would be lining up a not-insubstantial bid for a striker of some merit without basically acknowledging that Luisito is headed out. There's little reason they would spend more than 20m without Suarez leaving as well; it's a huge risk.

Then again, this is the club that bought Andy Carroll for the cost of the Brooklyn Bridge, so.

As always, we'll keep you apprised of any more updates to this epic poem of clauses.