In a remarkable twist of fate, it seems that Luis Suarez will not be allowed to move to the Emirates until Arsenal qualify for the Champions League group stages by winning their play-off.
The Suarez novella has been one of the longest running transfer sagas this summer and it is likely that we will have to wait until the end of the window (September 2nd) to see where the Uruguayan ends up.
Unique offer
We have all heard about Arsenal’s bid of £40 million + £1 and the reason behind that was so Suarez was notified of the offer, but to the North London club’s knowledge it should have met the release clause of the forward.
The clause is believed to be, that Liverpool must accept any offer in excess of £40 million if they are not in the Champions League and the club that offered the total are in Europe’s elite competition, now is where we get problem.
Are we in the Champions League?
Liverpool are suggesting, rightly or wrongly, that Arsenal are not actually in the Champions League so they will not be accepting any offer until the Gunners have qualified for the group stages.
It seems a ridiculous suggestion by the Merseyside club but one that they are going to use to try and keep hold of their star man.
Legally it is probably a legitimate reason but it seems absurd for Liverpool to use this as an excuse to keep the former Ajax man.
John Cross of the Daily Mirror also mentioned the possibility of this clause, although only briefly, it still adds to the evidence that it is the main stumbling block in this potential transfer.
The draw for the Champions League play-off is yet to be revealed but the first leg will be played on either August 20th or 21st and the return leg will be on the 27th or 28th, only then will we know if Suarez can move.
Qualify and he is ours…
Assuming Arsenal qualify it would mean Arsene Wenger would have five days to finalise any transfer with the forward and his representatives, I am sure this is something that would run smoothly.
Le Professeur has already admitted he will be working very hard to sign the forward so there remains genuine hope that he could end up at the Emirates.
All that needs to happen now is for the Gunners to qualify, then essentially they could offer the exact same amount as before and it should be enough to force Liverpool’s hand.
It has been a long saga but unlike recent targets this one may have some light at the end of the tunnel, even if Liverpool are doing all they can to stop the deal going through. In the end we could actually see the enigmatic forward move to North London, and then we could be a true force for the first time in years.
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