‘Had to’ - Sacked Liverpool transfer chief makes John Henry claim about signing Luis Suarez

Former Liverpool chief Damien Comolli has claimed that he was ‘useless’ at communicating with owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG).

Camolli served as director of football strategy at Anfield for 14 months between November 2010-April 2012. He was appointed a month after FSG (then New England Sports Ventures) purchased the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillette.

During his period in the Reds role, Liverpool signed several players as they looked to return to the European elite, having dropped out of the Champions League. Recruited during that time of Comolli’s remit was Andy Carroll for a record £35 million. Yet Luis Suarez was also brought to the club in January 2011, as well as Jordan Henderson the following summer. In the 2011-12 season, Liverpool won the League Cup as well as reaching the FA Cup final.

Comolli is now president of Toulouse and will return to Anfield when the French side face the Reds in the Europa League on Thursday night (20.00). Speaking to The Telegraph, the former Tottenham chief has been reflecting on his time at Liverpool.

He’s claimed that he had to ‘convince’ principal owner John Henry to lend the club the £22.8 million to purchased Suarez, who went on to bag 82 goals in 133 games for the Reds, given the dire financial situation left by Hicks and Gillette.

And Comolli regrets not speaking the the Boston-based group more often as he may have remained in his post longer. He said: “You have to remind people you are doing a good job and you need to manage up. You need to constantly sell your project and keep the ownership on board. I was useless at it.

“Which sporting director gets fired after winning the [League] Cup and being in the FA Cup final with no money? I had to convince John Henry [FSG principal owner] to lend money to buy Luis Suarez. We were skint. We won the first trophy since 2006 and I got fired. If I was good at communicating up and outwards I don’t know if I would still be in a job [but] I would have been in a different situation.”