Kroenke: Suarez was never coming

Kroenke: Suarez was never coming

Published Sep. 27, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has conceded they were never going to land Liverpool striker Luis Suarez this summer.

Arsenal made Suarez one of their top targets during the summer transfer window as Arsene Wenger looked to bolster his attacking options.

The player indicated he would be interested in a move to Arsenal to enable him to play in the UEFA Champions League, but Liverpool rejected two offers for the Uruguayan from the Gunners.

Arsenal's second bid of £40,000,001 annoyed Liverpool's hierarchy, with the North London outfit believing it triggered a reported £40million buy-out clause in Suarez's contract.

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Kroenke has revealed he met Liverpool owner John W Henry following their controversial pursuit of Suarez and claims there was no price Liverpool would sell Suarez at because of their fears of the impact of losing him.

"Look, Arsene Wenger had a view, our team had a view, they had a view and their view was 'he wasn't going anywhere'," Kroenke told the Daily Telegraph.

"I never saw them waver from it. I guess at some level there is a number that gets anybody out of anywhere but there was nothing within the realm of what we knew about that could have got him out of there.

"There were people saying if he left there was nothing left. If people believe that, if those players believed that and John thought they believed that, then that is a real problem."

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