Liverpool and City were hardly in ruins like we are now when Torres and Aguero joined them respectively. Liverpool had just made the CL final and were regularly in the top 4. City were clearly on the ascendency after their 2008 take over and it was obvious they would start winning things soon with other major acquisitions they made at the time just before his signing like D.Silva Toure, Kompany, etc that helped them win the FA Cup that same year before he joined.
I don’t think Suarez was that sought after when he joined liverpool in 2011 (when they were admittedly not that good) otherwise he likely would’ve gone somewhere else.