Truth behind Arsene Wenger and Arsenal’s £40m plus £1 bid for Luis Suarez
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In the summer of 2013 Arsenal made an audacious £40+1million bid for then Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.
The Uruguay international had made quite an impression after arriving in the Premier League in January 2011, for both his brilliance and multiple controversies.
At the time of Arsenal’s interest, Suarez had finished the season as Liverpool’s top scorer, with 23 goals, but was also serving a ten-match ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.
Despite his misdemeanours, the Gunners had made Suarez their top priority, especially after selling Robin Van Persie to Manchester United 12 months before.
Arsenal were made aware of a clause in the striker’s contract which would allow him to leave for a bid of over £40million.
In a move that Arsene Wenger has since described as ‘ludicrous,’ the North London side made an offer of £40,000,001 to see if the buyout was correct in order to get their man.
Suarez was keen to make the move, after Liverpool had just finished 7th in the Premier League.
In fact, it was the South American’s agent who had informed Arsenal of the clause, which later turned out not to exist, publicly embarrassing the club.
Reds co-owner John W. Henry went to social media to express his feelings on the matter.
He Tweeted: “What do you think they’re smoking over there at the Emirates.”
The following day the Liverpool Echo ran with the headline “You must be quidding,” as the media pondered over this strange saga.
The bid made Liverpool more determined to keep hold of their number seven, feeling no pressure to sell him, with Brendan Rodgers stating “something drastic” would be needed to change that stance.
He told the Echo: “If Arsenal want the player, they have to produce the value for the player. It is two-fold really. A player may want to go but then somebody has to pay the value or the worth of that player.”
How successful would Suarez have been at Arsenal? Let us know in the comments section.
Although Arsenal only wanted to trigger conversations between the clubs, the offer was not taken well on Merseyside.
Reportedly Suarez was furious he wasn’t allowed to leave Anfield for North London, but kicked on the following campaign, scoring 31 and assisting 12 in 33 matches, as Liverpool fell agonisingly short of the Premier League title under Brendan Rodgers.
After an amazing season, controversy wasn’t too far away, as his 2014 World Cup was cut short after biting Giorgio Chiellini in the group stages.
The Uruguay striker was hit with a four-month ban, but this did not stop interest from Barcelona who signed him for £75million that summer, leaving Liverpool with a record of 82 goals in 113 appearances.
During his time at the Nou Camp he became the club’s third all-time top scorer, with 198 goals, before his time in Catalonia came to an end last summer.
Barcelona reportedly deemed him too sold and sold him to Atletico Madrid for only £6million.
This proved to be a mistake, as he scored 21 times in a title winning season at the Wanda Metropolitano.
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