Liverpool MD confirms that Arsenal have made a bid for the Reds’ Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez.
Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has confirmed that the club did indeed reject a transfer bid from Arsenal for Luis Suarez – and that the striker was keen to hear more about their offer.
Ayre began by reiterating that the Reds had no desire to sell their star asset, and that so long as he worked hard for Liverpool he would remain popular with the Kop faithful.
“I don’t think anyone will be against him at this point,” Ayre told Bloomberg journalist Tariq Panja.
“He only needs to do what he did last season and everyone will feel he’s in the right place and he should carry on getting the support that he deserves and gets from Liverpool.
“Right now we’d love to see Luis put on a Liverpool shirt for this season and beyond and we hope that once he gets back things will settle down,”
Further quotes attributed to Ayre on Panja’s Twitter account were more revealing for both Liverpool and Arsenal fans on the Uruguayan’s future.
“I’ve heard him say it would great to have an opportunity to play for Arsenal and likewise Real Madrid,” continued Ayre.
“But he certainly hasn’t called me up and said he wants to leave.
“We had an offer which is fairly public from Arsenal.
“We said no to that offer, and as far as we’re concerned he turns up for training when he’s due back. And we’ll move forward on that basis.
“We get offers for lots of our players at different times. Unless we get to a situation where that player absolutely doesn’t want to be here and we don’t want him to be here then that’s a different kettle of fish.”
Times journalist Tony Barrett quickly weighed in to say that Arsenal had not yet made a second bid – despite reports to the contrary.
Ayre: ⁰”We had an offer which is fairly public from Arsenal. We said no to that offer.”
— Tony Barrett (@TonyBarretTimes) July 15, 2013
Just to clarify, Ayre is referring to the offer that was made by Arsenal last week. There have been no others since then.
— Tony Barrett (@TonyBarretTimes) July 15, 2013
“This is an ambitious young player, he’s talked in the media about wanting to play in the Champions League and all these things,” Ayre said.
“It’s our job to convince Luis that this is the right place to achieve those things.”
It is little surprise Liverpool are so keen to keep Luis Suarez, who is their greatest hope of a UEFA Champions League place with Steven Gerrard not getting any younger.
The Uruguay international has near infinite energy, pressing all over the pitch in order to win back the ball as soon as it is lost.
He is a stunningly balanced dribbler who finds space where there was none to be seen, and his tally of 23 goals in 33 Premier League games last season was only beaten by Manchester United striker Robin Van Persie.
Suarez’s Premier League goals included 13 with his favoured right foot, 5 with his left, 3 headers and 2 free kicks – showing his ability in all areas of forward play.
Finally, his injury history is remarkable, with no spells on the sidelines due to a lack of fitness since he moved to Europe.
There are of course plenty of well known controversies that come with Suarez, but if Arsene Wenger feels he can tame the 26 year-old, it would be money well spent whatever the price.
There remains though the small task of convincing Liverpool to sell, and one suspects this transfer saga could run for weeks yet.
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