Former Liverpool and Sky Sports Pundit, Jamie Carragher believes that Arsene Wenger’s biggest mistake was his inability to sign Luis Suarez in 2013 from arch-rivals Liverpool.
Suarez it was revealed had a release clause of any fee in excess of £40 million which made Wenger to make a bid of £40m plus £1 for the Uruguyan forward which was expected to trigger the transfer. Liverpool dully rejected the deal forcing Suarez to spend another season at Anfield before leading the club to a second place finish that season.
Carragher believes Wenger would have won the Premier League at least in two of the past three campaigns if the deal had gone through. Carragher told Daily Mail: “When Arsene Wenger looks back, how much do you think he regrets that £1? In July 2013, when Arsenal were pursing Luis Suarez, how different would things have been had they made Liverpool a proper offer? “Wenger and Arsenal were under the
impression, remember, that a bid of more than £40 million would take Suarez away from Liverpool but they took that to the extreme. By putting just £1 above the fee they thought would trigger a deal, it ensured business would never get done.
“If you look back at Wenger’s 20 years in English football, there are so many highlights, but that day in July 2013, with the bid that enraged Liverpool, cannot be ignored. Not signing Suarez is the biggest mistake of Wenger’s reign.
“Had Arsenal pushed the boundaries for Suarez, perhaps with an offer of £50million, I believe they would have won the Barclays Premier League in two of the last three seasons. That’s the thing about Suarez: whichever team he plays for, he drags them to a higher level.
Fast-forward to 2016 and one will find out that, Suarez went on to join Barcelona the following season for £70 million winning the treble (Copa de Rey, La Liga and Champions League) in his debut season and Arsenal went on to win two FA Cups in Suarez’s last season 2013/2014) in England and last season (2014/2015).
