The 26-year-old Luis Suarez had an outstanding season for Liverpool, scoring 30 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions. However, he could not help the Reds finish inside the top four and has subsequently revealed his desire to challenge for trophies and play in the Champions League.
The controversial striker, who is banned for ten domestic games for his bite on Branislav Ivanovic, is being courted by Spanish giants Real Madrid, but it was Arsenal who made a move for the Uruguay international by submitting a £30 million bid last week.
Liverpool quickly rejected their bid with the hopes of keeping their star striker at Anfield for next season. The five-time European winners ideally want to keep Suarez to help bring back Champions League football to Merseyside, but they may part with the player if an unacceptable offer comes in; the rationale being keeping an unhappy player is not best for the club.
Even though Suarez is apparently frustrated with life in England and wanting to move to a top club abroad, Arsenal are keen to recruit the player. They have been encouraged in their chase for Suarez with his representatives asking suitors, believed to be Real Madrid, Chelsea and Arsenal (depending on who you believe), to bid close to £40 million to land the player.
According to Metro, Suarez’s representatives believe they can force Liverpool to sell him if a club comes in with an offer in excess of £40 million.
The north London club have the necessary funds to spend big this summer and are tipped to bring in at least one forward, either Suarez or Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain. They have reportedly lost out on the latter since new coach Ancelotti wants the Argentinian to stay at Madrid which prompted the Gunners to chase Suarez even harder.
However, after being initially rebuffed, it will be interesting to see if Wenger is prepared to smash his transfer record by submitting a £40 million bid for Suarez. When you think about the supposed £70 million transfer kitty Arsenal reportedly have it makes you realise that it will not go very far when you are after the very best players – look at Cavani at £55 million to PSG and Falcao’s fee of £50 million to go to Monaco and you realise that Arsenal may just not be in the same league as these mega-rich clubs.
As I understand things, and I am definitely no expert like our other writer Jacko Jones, the frustrating thing is that there are members of Arsenal’s board who can finance such moves but cannot as they do not make these decisions. Do you think Arsenal should up their offer for Suarez in order to land a proven goal scorer at the top level?