Thanks Stevie! Arsenal move 'would have been a big error', admits Suarez
Luis Suarez has thanked former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard - for helping him avoid a "big error" by shunning interest from Arsenal.
The nippy Uruguayan caused a stir at Anfield when he revealed his desire to ditch the Reds to join their English Premier League rivals last year after the Gunners placed a cheeky £40,000,001 ($81.3 million) bid to activate his release clause.
Liverpool rejected the bid and after being persuaded by skipper Gerrard, Suarez opted to stay.
He then scored 31 goals to guide Liverpool back into the Champions League for the first time since 2009 as they finished as runners-up in the EPL last season.
'Big error'
Now at Spanish giants Barcelona after a mammoth £75m transfer, Suarez feels indebted to Gerrard for convincing him to spurn Arsene Wenger's offer.
Writing in his autobiography Crossing The Line, the 27-year-old said: "It would have been a big error that I would have made had it not been for Steven Gerrard.
"We spoke about this when I went to Melwood to pick up my things at the end of the summer and he said: 'You did the right thing, you waited until the best moment.'
"He had told me to play well for Liverpool, give it another year and it will be Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona coming for you and then you can go where you want, because you have the quality to play at any of those three clubs."
In July, Gerrard said that he told Suarez that he was "too good for Arsenal".
While Suarez has not enjoyed the best of starts in La Liga, it's probably safe to say that he's enjoying his time rubbing shoulders with Lionel Messi and Co. rather than lining up with Danny Welbeck and Mesut Oezil.
Sources: Mail Online, Mirror Online, ESPN FC
Related report: Suarez too good for Arsenal - Gerrard
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now