• Premier League

Wenger hits back at Gerrard's Suarez claim

ESPN staff
August 1, 2014
Khedira's future still in question

Arsene Wenger has hit back at Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard for claiming Luis Suarez was too good to join Arsenal.

Arsenal twice tried to activate the striker's buyout clause last summer but saw both bids turned down by the Anfield club.

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Gerrard, a key figure in persuading Suarez to stay at Anfield last year, revealed on Thursday how he convinced the Uruguayan not to move to the Emirates, suggesting his team-mate was "too good" to join them.

Wenger does not agree: "You're never too good for Arsenal and Steven Gerrard knows that.

"But I can understand completely that he asked him to stay because he wanted him [Suarez] to play with him and have a chance to win the Premier League. But it didn't happen, and anyway, Suarez left."

Suarez instead joined Barcelona for a fee of £75 million, despite having a four-month ban from all football-related activity for his bite on Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup. His appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding the suspension will be heard on August 8.

It is not the first time Arsenal and Liverpool have clashed this summer; both clubs were locked in a battle to sign Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez, with the La Liga club hoping to use the attacker as a linchpin in the Suarez deal.

However, Sanchez preferred a move to London and signed a long-term deal with Arsenal in July.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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