Arsenal Failed To Land Luis Suarez Last Summer After Striker Removed Release Clause From His Liverpool Deal

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Forward initially had the get-out clause inserted when he first joined the Reds from Ajax in January 2011. 

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Premier League leaders Arsenal were unable to activate the much-publicised release clause in controversial Liverpool front man Luis Suarez’s contract at Anfield last summer because the Uruguay attacker had forgotten that he removed it from his deal the year before, according to reports in the Sunday Mirror.

The in-demand striker was the subject of huge interest in his services from the north London club throughout the close-season transfer window, with the Gunners even lodging two big-money bids with their Premier League rivals for Suarez.

And it was the second of those offers that was meant to have sealed the deal for the coveted Uruguay international, with Arsenal head coach Arsene Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis both under the distinct impression that Suarez’s contract with the Merseyside giants contained a specific release clause that would allow any interested party competing in the Uefa Champions League to open talk with the 26-year-old were they to bid over £40 million for the player.

However, when Arsenal did then lodge an offer of £40m plus £1 for Suarez, they were taken aback when the Reds immediately rejected the bid out of hand.

And now it turns out that the forward, on the advice of agent Pere Guardiola, had decided to remove that specific clause when he renegotiated his deal with Liverpool in September 2012.

 

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