Boss Arsene Wenger has been given the all clear to activate Luis Suarez’s £40million release clause.
Having already had a bid of £30million plus £5million in variables rejected, the only option for the Gunners boss to land the Reds’ star would be to table the offer that Suarez’s representatives feel the player can leave for.
It has sparked debate between Liverpool FC and the Suarez camp – unless there wasn’t enough of a dispute there already – in which Liverpool want a release clause of at least £50million, a price which would surely put off any English clubs interested.
Frontrunners
But with Suarez’s people setting the bar at £40million, undoubtedly a price that even Liverpool would be forced to listen to, anything around that margin could prove to be successful. Real Madrid’s bid for the Liverpool number 7 will more than likely be fruitless due to the fact that their first bid for Suarez reached just £25million.
With Madrid failing to realistically valuate the striker, and Arsenal now prepared to pay the £40million that the club will more than likely listen to, there is no doubting who the frontrunner in the saga is.
Rodgers comments
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has remained firm that their prize asset will not be sold, although even he conceded that a £40million move could not be ignored. Yet he has appealed to Suarez’s inner nature, pulling at the heartstrings:
“It's not about me or the club, I think it's the supporters and his team-mates for what they gave him,” Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo.
He added: “They have stood by him through thick and thin, and through all the traumas he has gone through over the last couple of seasons.”
However Suarez could still be desperate for a change of scenery after his turbulent year in Liverpool, and with Arsenal eager and willing to pay up, the Emirates could be his preferred destination.
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