Luis Suarez was offered to Arsenal for £40 million plus Theo Walcott

Luis Suarez was offered to Arsenal in a cash plus player swap

A sensational revelation has been done by Goal, who have suggested that Luis Suarez was offered to Arsenal in the summer after all in a cash plus player swap deal. Liverpool wanted £40 million plus Theo Walcott in exchange for the Uruguayan striker.

Ahead of this weekend’s crunch clash at Anfield between Liverpool and Arsenal, the details of this shock proposal from the Merseysiders has emerged, who had made the offer to the Gunners in the fag end of the summer transfer window.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had rejected the move as he did not want to lose Theo Walcott and also because he felt that it inflated the value of the 27-year-old striker. The English winger was valued at around £25m by the Anfield officials, and it effectively required Arsenal to pay a sum of over £65m for Suarez.

It had originally appeared that Liverpool had closed all doors for the exit of Suarez to join another English rivals, when the had turned down the now infamous £4o,oo0,oo1 million bid for the striker in late July, and made it publicly and privately clear that he would not be allowed to join the London outfit, and that increased offers will not be entertained.

Throughout the summer, the Uruguayan had agitated for a transfer to Wenger’s team as confusion over his immediate future reigned.

The uncertainty over the striker’s future lingered till the end of last year, when in December, he signed a new deal worth £200,000-a-week with a duration of four and a half years. Although a buy-out clause has been inserted in the new contract of the striker, which when activated allows him to be sold to a foreign club in the summer.

The exact figure for the release clause has been subject to much speculation, although it is expected to be in the region of £60-70m, and can only be triggered by a non-English club. Suarez and his agent Pere Guardiola after last summer’s fiasco wanted a crystal clear agreement, which can see the striker leave in the summer if Liverpool fail to qualify for next year’s Champions League.

Arsene Wenger on the other hand has ruled out any possibility of signing the striker in the future. What happens in the summer if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League remains to be seen.