Liverpool owner John W. Henry has sensationally claimed that Luis Suarez did have a £40million release clause in his contract last summer, but the club simply refused to sell to Arsenal anyway.
The Gunners made their infamous £40m plus £1 bid after being tipped off that the Reds would be forced to accept all offers over £40m for Suarez, but Henry held firm.
Arsenal, and Suarez’s agent, Pere Guardiola, eventually accepted that there had been confusion over what the clause entitled them to – with Liverpool insisting that they just needed to inform the player of all offers over £40m.
But Henry has now seemingly admitted that the Reds simply refused to be held to ransom over the player’s contract after being burnt in the Fernando Torres deal.
Speaking at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference over the weekend, Henry said, when asked how Suarez was potentially key to Liverpool’s future plans: ‘Luis Suarez is the top scorer in the English Premier League, which is arguably the top soccer league in the world.
‘He had a buyout clause of £40m. Arsenal, one of our prime rivals – this year we’re tied for second … we’re actually second because of goal difference.
Missed out: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger (Picture: Reuters)
‘They offered £40m plus £1. What we’ve found … is that contracts don’t seem to mean a lot in England – actually, in world football.
‘It doesn’t matter how long a player’s contract is, he can decide he’s leaving.
‘We sold a player, Fernando Torres, for £50m, that we did not want to sell, we were forced to.
‘Since apparently these contracts don’t seem to hold, we took the position that we’re just not selling.
‘It’s been great for Luis, it’s been great for us.
‘We have three gentlemen up front Suarez/Sterling/Sturridge, [they] are young, I think Luis and those three could be together for a long time.’
