Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has stepped up in staunch defence against claims made by Liverpool captain Steve Gerrard that suggest former Reds talisman Luis Suarez was ‘too good to play for Arsenal.’
Last month Arsenal were snubbed by their prime transfer target on the completion of his sensational £75m move from Merseyside to Barcelona.
Gunners boss Wenger claimed he is not bitter that his club were unsuccessful in their attempts to secure Suarez (their two rejected bids fell short of his £75 buy-out clause), but he strongly defended Arsenal against the cutting comments of outspoken Reds skipper Gerrard.
According to reports, Gerrard had advised the Uruguay international to shun the Gunners on the basis he was ‘too good’ to play for them.
“You’re never too good for Arsenal and Steven Gerrard knows that,” the French coach told Sky Sports, “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,” he sniped.
The particular remarks that had irked Wenger were made several months ago by the midfielder during a winter Liverpool training session. They were only confessed yesterday in an interview during which Gerrard was asked to comment on his former team-mate’s move to Spain.
Gerrard revealed: “Last winter when he (Suarez) was out in the cold and training on his own that’s the conversation I had with him. I said, ‘Don’t go to Arsenal’.
“With all due respect to them, I said to him that he was too good for Arsenal.
“I said, ‘If you score 30 goals for us and win the PFA Player of the Year, the press Player of the Year, they (Barca and Madrid) will come back for you’.”
In the last comment Gerrard was referring to the striker’s popularity with Spanish all-star rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, who are both understood to have had their gaze fixated on the Premier League’s most prolific goal scorer since last year.
The Catalans won the race at the beginning of July and the Uruguay superstar finally fulfilled his boyhood dream of signing for Barcelona.