Liverpool confirm Arsenal bid for Suarez was rejected

Liverpool have confirmed they rejected an offer from Arsenal for want-away striker Luis Suarez.

The Uruguay international claimed to be unhappy with treatment from the British press after receiving a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic at the back-end of last season, and expressed his desire to leave Liverpool as a result.

However, it has now transpired that the London club are looking to keep Suarez in the Premier League, although they will have to up their offer to snare the 23-goal forward from Anfield.

Despite interest from the Emirates Stadium, Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre is confident the 26-year-old can be convinced to stay on Merseyside and help the club back into the UEFA Champions League.

“I’ve heard him say it would be great to have an opportunity to play for Arsenal and likewise Real Madrid. But he certainly hasn’t called me up and said he wants to leave,” Ayre told Bloomberg.

“We had an offer which is fairly public from Arsenal. We said no to that offer, and as far as we’re concerned he turns up for training when he’s due back. And we’ll move forward on that basis.

“We get offers for lots of our players at different times. Unless we get to a situation where that player absolutely doesn’t want to be here and we don’t want him to be here then that’s a different kettle of fish.

“Right now we’d love to see Luis put on a Liverpool shirt for this season and beyond and we hope that once he gets back things will settle down.

“This is an ambitious young player, he’s talked in the media about wanting to play in the Champions League and all these things. It’s our job to convince Luis that this is the right place to achieve those things.”