Suarez: Liverpool promised me I could leave Luis Suarez has pleaded with Liverpool to fulfil the promise they made a yearago and let him leave Anfield. The Uruguay striker insists that he is prepared to submit a written transfer request by the end of the week if the club continue to block his move to Arsenal. Speaking for the first timesince Arsenal made a £40,000,001 (€46.1m)bid for him, Suarez believes that he has been left littleother alternative. Suarez claims the club told him they would let himdepart if they failed to qualify for the Champions League this season and that a clause in his contract allows him to leave should someone make a bid of more than £40m. He says he has thebacking of the Professional Footballers’ Association and that he his prepared to take the issue to the Premier League to force his exit and move to the Emirates before the transfer window closes on September 2nd. “Last year I had the opportunity to move to a big European club and I stayed on the understanding that if we failed to qualify for the Champions League the following season I’d be allowed to go,” he revealed. “I gave absolutely everything lastseason but it was not enough to give us a top four finish now all I want is for Liverpool to honourour agreement.” At the heart of the battle is the “release” clause that was included in Suarez’s new contract, signed last August. Liverpool have also denied that the contract obliges them to sell to anyclub that offers over £40m. In fact, Arsenal were acting according to what they understand to be Suarez’s contractual status and the Uruguayanlast night again insisted that there is a formal agreement that he could go. “I have the club’s word and we have the written contract and we are happy to take this to the Premier League for them to decide the case but I do not want it to come to that,” he said. Stalemate “I don’t feel betrayed (by Liverpool ) but the club promised me something a year ago just as I promised them that I would stay and try everything possible to get us into the ChampionsLeague. They gave me their word a year ago andnow I want them to honourthat. And it is not just something verbal with thecoach but something that is written in the contract. I’m not going to another club to hurt Liverpool.” The clause is sufficiently ambiguous to leave doubts over how the stalemate will be resolved. Suarez’s camp saw £40m as the threshold price at which Liverpool would have to sell, something that was publicly revealed by Arsenal’s £40,000,001 bid. The bid, though, tested the clause and revealed that Liverpool saw £40m as the point at which they must start to negotiate, not the point atwhich they are obliged to sell. The PFA have already been consulted about potential mediation. The letter of the law is one thing, the spirit of thelaw is another. Suarez clearly feels let down by what he sees as a brokenpromise. Nor does he speak lightly; the doubts continue over the best way to proceed. Suarez says he was reluctant to reach this point. But he believes that the message that has come out of Anfield has not always been entirely true and that being portrayed as someone who just wants out has not always been fair
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 02:47:59 +0000
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