Former Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has revealed how a late change of heart over his 2014 transfer resulted in Arsenal missing out on a deal for then Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema.
A decade ago, the Uruguayan was itching to leave Liverpool and had a host of clubs queuing up to sign him – with Arsenal famously having a bid of £40,000,001 rejected in the summer of 2013.
A year on from that, Suarez had decided that he wanted to leave England following a number of controversial incidents and had his heart set on a move to Spain.
Although he eventually moved to Camp Nou, going on to win the treble and a host of other accolades, he has now revealed that Real Madrid made the first move to sign him.
In fact, Madrid had a tentative agreement in place and had even concocted a plan to sell Benzema to Arsenal to fund the deal.
However, the fallout from the 2014 World Cup – in which Suarez bit Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini, the third such incident in his career – saw Real cool their interest and Barcelona stepped up their own pursuit, with the Catalan club his preferred destination anyway.
Speaking on Uruguay’s DelSol 99.5 FM radio station, Suarez explained: ‘Before the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid wanted to sign me and everything was on track.
‘They were planning to sell Benzema to Arsenal, it was all done.
‘When the World Cup started, Barcelona joined the race and obviously I preferred Barca. With the bite situation, Madrid lowered their interest and Barca became more interested despite the punishment. I will always be grateful for that.
‘In the end I had both options and I chose Barcelona because it was my dream.’
More Trending
Read More Stories
Suarez teamed up with Lionel Messi and Neymar to created the so-called ‘MSN’ attack, which secured the treble in the 2014-15 season and that trio scored an incredible 253 goals between them in 113 matches.
Madrid, meanwhile, signed another World Cup star instead, bringing James Rodriguez in from Monaco, while they cashed in on Angel Di Maria instead of Benzema with the Argentine moving to Manchester United.
As for Arsenal, they signed Alexis Sanchez from Barca in a £35million deal and also picked up Danny Welbeck from United on deadline day, going on to finish third in the Premier League and win the FA Cup.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.