‘I became a Liverpool hero – Arsenal had me ready to leave’

Ahead of the blockbuster clash between Liverpool and Arsenal in the Premier League, we look back at a player who could have played for both clubs in the 2010s.

Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez represented the Reds for several seasons, going on to become a cult hero at Anfield, but was involved in multiple transfer sagas involving their rivals Arsenal.

His story with Arsenal is mainly publicised as the £40,000,001 affair, but the striker himself was keen on a move to north London at the time.

Suarez could very well have ended up at the Emirates but for key interventions, and instead joined Barcelona, where his time is very fondly remembered.

The transfer request and desire for Champions League football

Suarez spoke with the official UEFA website back in 2021, detailing events from nearly a decade earlier that saw him nearly end up at the Emirates Stadium.

He revealed that he wanted to leave the club in the summer of 2012, just over a year after he joined them from Ajax, and had informed his agent and the club of his desire to move.

The arrival of Brendan Rodgers in the Anfield dugout, however, led to conversations between him and the star striker, and Suarez decided to remain at the club.

"I think I'd been at Liverpool for a year and a half when Brendan took charge in July 2012.

Back then, I had opportunities to sign for other clubs who were getting in contact with me, but he phoned me when I was in Uruguay on holiday, to tell me that he had another way of thinking, that he wanted to change the club and its philosophy, that he wanted the club to get back in the Champions League and fight to win big trophies, that he was going to make the team play great football.

He asked me to believe and trust him. I enjoyed that chat. I liked his conviction, the philosophy he wanted to implement at the club, so I talked to my agent and the club to say that I didn't want to leave, that I wanted another opportunity to be successful at Liverpool," he said (via Mirror).

Suarez went on to reveal that the season did not go as planned under Rodgers, and he was keen to move to Arsenal in the summer of 2013 to play in the UEFA Champions League.

He spoke with Rodgers and club captain Steven Gerrard, who managed to calm him down and urged him to remain patient for an even bigger move.

"That year wasn't as good as we wanted, but ideas were already pretty clear. So then the 2012/13 season goes by, and I wanted to sign for Arsenal, since Arsenal had played in the Champions League every season prior to that.

I had some further discussions with the coach, as well as with Gerrard. He was the one that convinced me. I told him I wanted to keep being successful, that I wanted to play in the Champions League.

So, he said to me, "If this year we keep improving as we have been, and you're at the level you have to be, next year you'll be able to play for Bayern München, Real Madrid, Barcelona, or whatever club you like. You'll have the chance to choose, but stay for one more year.

I remember that talk with Gerrard, and I remember everything the coach said to me. He texted me things like, 'Stay for another year, just try it.' And, well, that was the year we were close to winning the Premier League. That's thanks to the team efforts, obviously, but especially to the philosophy and conviction Brendan Rodgers conveyed to us as the coach," he concluded.

Gerrard's analysis of the situation was spot on, as Suarez ended up signing for Barcelona, rather than Arsenal, in the summer of 2014.

Arsenal's approach for Suarez: The £40m affair

In the summer of 2013, the football world was captivated by one of the most audacious transfer sagas in Premier League history.

Determined to bolster their attacking ranks under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal made a move to sign Suarez, whose form had captivated several sides in Europe. They received information that Liverpool were contractually obligated to sell Suarez the moment a bid exceeding his release clause was placed for him.

As the most serious side on his tail, Arsenal put in a cheeky £40,000,001 bid to test the veracity of the information they had received, and it turned out to be false.

He did not move to the Emirates in that summer and delivered a return of 31 goals and 12 assists in 37 appearances for Liverpool in the 2013-14 season, prompting Barcelona to pay a reported £75 million to sign him.

He would go on to win multiple titles, including a UEFA Champions League, in his time at the Spotify Camp Nou.