Coy Arsene Wenger cannot talk about move for Luis Suarez

 
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Marco Giacomelli12 July 2013

Arsene Wenger today refused to rule out a move for Luis Suarez.

Arsenal are preparing a £35million bid for the Liverpool striker, having already had a £30m offer rejected.

But when questioned on his interest at the start of the club’s pre-season tour of Indonesia, Wenger remained coy.

The Arsenal manager said: “Suarez? As you know the transfer period demands secrets and confidentiality, so I can’t answer the question.”

Wenger has yet to spend any of the £70m the board has made available to him to strengthen the squad this summer.

He has turned to Suarez after efforts to bring Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid stalled due to a wrangle over the fee and because boss Carlo Ancelotti now wants to keep the Argentina striker.

Although Suarez has not handed in a transfer request he has publicly voiced his eagerness to quit the club; initially citing his relationship with the British media and then talking of his need to play Champions League football.

That is something Arsenal, unlike Liverpool, can offer but Brendan Rodgers is hopeful that the unsettled striker will stay. Rodgers and senior executives met Suarez and his agent Pere Guardiola at the club but the manager has also been in almost daily contact with him the Uruguay international.

Suarez was top scorer for Liverpool last term and has also attracted the interest of Real, making it even harder for Rodgers to convince his man to stay.

“Over the course of the last few months and towards the end of the season there has been a lot of speculation with Luis,” Rodgers told talkSPORT. “But the fact is it remains the same — we value the player. He had a terrific season for us last year and showed his qualities.

“We communicate in some way nearly every day either through text or conversations.

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“Luis is a real competitor, a real winner. He wants Liverpool to do so well but, like every player, every manager, and more importantly every football club, they want to be working at the very highest level.

“He’s three years left on his contract, we don’t want to sell him, and we hope everything will be fine.”

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