• Premier League

PFA chief: Suarez move 'almost impossible'

PFA chief Gordon Taylor says it will be "practically impossible" for Luis Suarez to engineer a move to Arsenal before the transfer window shuts.

Suarez, 26, has been training alone at Melwood as he continues to push for a switch to the Emirates Stadium.

"With the transfer window expiring, the difficulties of not only selling him to a competitor but also replacing him makes it practically impossible," Taylor said.

Liverpool owner John Henry has told Suarez that there is no chance he will be sold before the September 2 transfer window deadline.

Suarez accused the club of breaking a promise to allow him to join a club in the Champions League this summer after Liverpool failed to finish in the top four.

And after manager Brendan Rodgers admonished the striker for going to the press with his demands for a transfer to Arsenal, Henry has now underlined that Suarez will not be allowed to leave this month, and certainly not for Arsenal - who have had two bids rejected - as a Premier League rival.

Suarez also insisted on Thursday that he has had no contact with one of his other supposed suitors, Real Madrid.

Henry is quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph: "We are not going to sell Luis. It's a football reason. It's not finances. At this point, so late in window, with everyone who's already moved or isn't moving, we do not have time to replace him.

"So for football reasons we can't - and especially to Arsenal. We've made that clear. I have said to Ivan Gazidis [Arsenal chief executive] in a personal conversation that we will not sell to Arsenal. It is unequivocal, but that doesn't seem to slow them down so I can't wait to see what the next bid is.

"We're not in Europe this year and have not been in the Champions League for a while. To sell to a rival for those Champions League positions, or one of them, would be ludicrous. Whatever the bid is, we won't sell him. We need Luis. Hopefully this will pass."

He is hopeful that once the transfer window closes, Suarez will be able to play to his full ability for Liverpool and work with Rodgers again. The player is suspended until late September due to his bite on the arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

"That's going to be between the manager and player," Henry added. "The manager is upset, as he should be, the supporters are, Luis is, but that's going to be between those two and his team-mates. He's one of the best players in the world. I have no reason to believe he won't continue to be.

"If you look at the full context of what's happened here, it's jarring to all our supporters. The club has stood by him so strongly at a time you could question whether the club should have stood by him, but they did."

Henry also hit out at whoever revealed details of Suarez's contract, signed 12 months ago, which led to Arsenal's bid of £40,000,001 in an attempt to force the player's release from his Anfield agreement.

"It should have been confidential, so absolutely it concerns me," Henry added. "How does a club that doesn't have permission to speak with your player see his contract?

"Unfortunately, it's the way it works in football. People don't speak about it publicly but that's the way it's run. It's how things are done. I don't think there's a point reporting Arsenal because it just seems to happen everywhere, throughout football.

"I think Gordon Taylor is right when he says it's not good for either side to have any clause. It's not good for football and maybe the Professional Footballers' Association can do something about this."

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