Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez was a hero at Liverpool before his big-money move to Barcelona. Getty

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness says his former club and Tottenham Hotspur's inability to challenge for titles has seen them lose their star players in the last two summers.

The north London club were unable to hold on to Gareth Bale, who made a record move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013. Earlier this summer, the Reds lost Luis Suarez to Barcelona, who returned to action last month after serving a lengthy ban following his biting incident in Brazil.

Suarez's was the Premier League's top scorer and bagged the PFA Player of the Year award last season. Bale has also achieved similar accolades in his final season in England.

The former Liverpool midfielder believes Barcelona should have signed Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero instead of Suarez.

"In the past two summers, the Premier League's outstanding players, Gareth Bale then Suarez, left for Spain," Souness told the Times.

"Aguero's situation is not identical because City will compete for the title and be in the Champions League places, something Tottenham and Liverpool cannot guarantee, but it would still be hard for him to resist an offer."

"The alternative is to stay at City and become their version of Eric Cantona at Manchester United or Thierry Henry at Arsenal, foreign players still revered for their influence at those clubs."

"I mention Barcelona because the only danger of City losing Aguero is if they or Real Madrid come knocking. Not only is Aguero superior to Suarez; he is also better than Karim Benzema, Real's centre-forward."

"Could he go back to Madrid, as a former Atletico idol, and play for Real? Only he can answer that one."

"Yet the chance to return to a country that speaks his mother tongue and play for clubs capable of winning the Champions League is an obvious temptation despite a contract that runs until 2019."

"Manchester City must be relieved that when Barcelona decided to lavish £65m on a striker from the Premier League in the summer, they opted for Luis Suarez rather than Sergio Aguero."

"I'm not sure that the Catalan club made the right call. I would take Aguero ahead of Suarez because, unlike the Uruguayan, he doesn't do anything that embarrasses himself or his club. He comes with a guarantee of goals but no baggage," the Liverpool legend concluded.