Arsenal confident of Luis Suarez transfer after Arsene Wenger is given green light for £40m bid
Arsenal confident of Luis Suarez transfer after Arsene Wenger is given green light for £40m bid
Liverpool have already turned down one approach from the
Gunners, but the north London side are willing to back Wenger's pursuit
of the Uruguayan
Wanted man: Suarez is a target for Arsenal despite Liverpool suggesting they won't sell
Julian Finney
Arsene Wenger has been given the go-ahead to spend £40million on Luis Suarez, writes John Cross in Nagoya .
And Arsenal are confident that Suarez will quit Liverpool for a sensational move to the Emirates.
Gunners boss Wenger also has Gonzalo Higuain and Wayne Rooney on his radar, but Suarez is his No1 choice. Liverpool insist that Suarez is not for sale and have already knocked back one approach for Arsenal after claiming their valuation of a £35m package was not enough.
Suarez has a £40m clause in his contract which his advisers believe entitles him to leave if any club matches the price.
But
Liverpool are adamant they only have to inform Suarez - and are not
obliged to sell. Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers said he expects the
Uruguay striker to stay “unless something drastic happens.” A second option: Gonzalo Higuain remains on Wenger's radar
Getty
The Arsenal board have given Wenger a £70m transfer war chest and made it clear that if he wants to spend the majority on Suarez, they will back his judgement.
Wenger
also wants to strengthen in other areas – with Everton’s Marouane
Fellaini among his midfield targets – but Suarez would eat up much of
his budget.
Suarez was named in Liverpool’s 27-man squad for their
pre-season tour of Indonesia, Australia and Thailand, although he is
one of three players joining the party “later on in the tour” following
Confederations Cup duty. Rodgers, speaking in Jakarta, said: “Luis
Suarez is a wonderful player and he is still very much a Liverpool
player.
“He is a very important member of this squad and I am looking forward to working with him again this season.
“There has been lots of speculation about Luis moving to another club but, as I said, he is very much a Liverpool player.
“We had an offer that was nowhere near what we value him at. He’s one of the top strikers in the world.
“Of course he wants to work and play at the top level. But unless something drastic happens, he will be staying here.
“He has got three years left on his contract. We are looking forward to him helping us get into the Champions League spots.”
Suarez scored 30 times last season, but will miss six games at the start of the new campaign – the remains of a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
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