Luis Suarez has revealed had it not been Steven Gerrard’s intervention he could have signed for Arsenal in 2013.
Arsenal’s interest in Suarez was pretty intense as Arsene Wenger had tried to bring the player to Emirates at that time. The Uruguayan striker was frustrated as Liverpool couldn’t grab a Champions League spot after finishing in the seventh place.
The Gunners were aware that an offer of more than £40m would force the Reds to cash in as it would enable a clause in the contract. Wenger did make an approach with a peculiar £40,000,001 bid but Liverpool were quick to reject that.
Suarez went on to stay at Anfield and had almost guided the Merseysiders to the Premier League title in 2014.
Darez said, “We qualified for the UEFA Europa League but the season ended badly.
“I’m about to go to Arsenal, forcing myself to go, and Steven tells me ‘I promise that if you stay this year you’re going to take off and next year you’ll go to Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid or whichever one you want, but stay this year because you won’t be better off at Arsenal’.”
“This was the last conversation I had with Gerrard at that moment and I told my agent that I had made my decision and I was staying.
“His words convinced me in that moment. They came from a person who cared for me, who wanted my well-being, who saw me suffer during training and saw me sad.
They were words from a true captain that had an impact in that moment and helped me a lot.”
