The Gunners famously failed to raid Premier League rivals Liverpool for the striker, with the Uruguayan going on to join Barcelona 12 months later
Arsene Wenger is “convinced” that Luis Suarez wanted to join Arsenal a year before leaving Liverpool for Barcelona.
The Gunners famously lodged a bid of £40,000,001 for the Uruguayan in the summer of 2013 in an effort to trigger a release clause.
Liverpool, though, remained unmoved and refused to enter into negotiations with a Premier League rival.
Suarez, though, was eager to make the switch, with the South American looking for a way out of Anfield on the back of a biting incident involving Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
He was eventually convinced to stay put and after enjoying a standout 2013/14 campaign, in which he was named PFA Player of the Year, a big-money transfer was completed to La Liga giants Barcelona.
Wenger, though, insists that Suarez could just as easily have been turning on the style at the Emirates as Camp Nou.
He told beIN Sports: “He was very close [to signing for Arsenal]. We had an agreement with the player. We had been wrongly advised that he had a clause, with a minimal clause, but we had an agreement with the player. You can ask him.
“I'm convinced he wanted to join us and then they sold him. They kept him one more year, improved his contract and promised to sell him the year later to a club abroad."
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