Liverpool finished the season 12 points above Arsenal, and within two points of the league champions. They thrashed the Gunners 5-1 in February, while Luis Suarez enjoyed a season of personal excellence, plundering 31 goals in 33 league appearances, whilst simultaneously transforming from Public Enemy No.1 to scooping every individual award in sight. So, why on earth would he have wanted to sacrifice a genuine title race for a season scrapping for fourth place, especially when hed be off again at the end of the season anyway for Barcelona in a £75 million deal? Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard called it right when he stated that he was too good for Arsenal, following the Gunners ambitious £40 million bid for the Uruguayan in the summer of 2013.
''His wife is from Barcelona and I dont think you can begrudge a player like that, who has worked so hard for his dream. You cant go against him when he says he is leaving for Barcelona. Last summer when he was out in the cold and training on his own, thats the conversation I had with him. I said: Dont go to Arsenal. I would have been really sad and disappointed to see Luis go to Arsenal. With all due respect to them, I said to him that he was too good for Arsenal. I said if you score 30 goals for us and win the PFA Player of the Year - Real or Barcelona will come for you. - Steven Gerrard, July 2014.
As Suarez makes his long-awaited debut for the club of his dreams in El Clasico this weekend, lining up in a three-pronged attack with Lionel Messi and Neymar, he will silently thank a certain Scouse captain for offering him some pearls of wisdom.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
