Wenger explains how agent fooled Arsenal into ‘ludicrous’ Suarez bid

Arsene Wenger says Luis Suarez’s agent was partly responsible for Arsenal’s decision to make a “ludicrous” bid for the former Liverpool striker.

Suarez was hot property across Europe in the summer of 2014 after scoring 31 Premier League goals for Liverpool.

Arsenal were keen to sign the Uruguay international and were in advanced negotiations about a deal.

However the deal fell through after the Gunners infamously offered £40million plus £1 for the striker. Indeed Liverpool immediately rejected what Wenger has now called a “ludicrous” proposal.

“In 2014 [the 2013/14 season] were looking to get Luis Suarez over,” the former Gunners boss wrote in his new book.

“We had an agreement with the player and his agent. But the agent claimed that there was a clause: with an offer above £40million, Liverpool would be obliged to let the player go.

“But thanks to an indiscretion within Liverpool, I found out that his clause never existed. To check this was true, we offered £40,000,001. This may have seemed ludicrous, I admit.

 

 

“But Liverpool did not want to sell Suarez, they could afford to keep him and there was already an offer from Barca on the horizon.”

Suarez’s feat of 31 top-flight goals in his final season at Anfield came after he missed the first seven matches through suspension.

Liverpool would later sell Suarez for £75million to Barcelona, where he became the club’s third-highest scorer of all time.

After five years at Camp Nou, the forward moved across Spain to Atletico Madrid in September. He has so far scored two goals and assisted one other in three LaLiga appearances.


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Wenger reveals 2015 Van Persie snub

Elsewhere in his book, Wenger revealed how he ignored the chance to bring Robin van Persie back to Arsenal.

The Netherlands legend left the Gunners in 2012 for Manchester United, where he won the Premier League title.

And while he moved to Fenerbahce three years later, Wenger has explained how he could have returned to north London.

Read more…