4 Sept 2013

Angry Aldo blasts: Prem duo 'taking the p*ss' out of LFC & Man Utd. Agree...?

Liverpool legend John Aldridge has launched a stinging attack on Arsenal and Chelsea for their 'futile' tactics during the recent summer transfer window.

In his column for The Sunday World today, Aldo scathed:

"Arsenal and Chelsea have been taking the p**s out of Liverpool and United with their pursuits of Suarez and Rooney this summer.

"Those deals were never going to materialise and I’m pleased that United and Liverpool treated the offers with the contempt they deserved.

"The top clubs don’t sell their best players to domestic rivals – apart from Arsenal, it would appear".


I personally don't see why Chelsea and Arsenal deserve 'contempt' for trying to sign Rooney and Suarez. What's the big deal? This is the nature of football.

In Italy, for example, domestic rivals sell big players to each other all the time, and it's not as uncommon in the Premier League as Aldo makes out.

* RVP went from Arsenal to Man United.
* Ashley Cole went from Arsenal to Chelsea.
* Fernando Torres went from Liverpool to Chelsea.
* Dimitar Berbatov went from Spurs to Man Utd.

I'm sure there are other examples.

As is always the case in football, money talks, and if the price is right, clubs don't really care where their player goes. The obvious precedent is Fernando Torres. When Chelsea made their initial bid of £40m, Liverpool told them to stuff it. Indeed, on the 28th January 2011, an LFC spokesman told the BBC:

"Chelsea have made a bid for Fernando, which has been turned down. The player is not for sale"

If Torres wasn't for sale, why did Liverpool accept a £50m bid three days later?! Simple: Money talks, and Chelsea made an offer that Liverpool couldn't - and wouldn't - refuse.

Similarly, if Arsenal had offered £50m+ for Suarez this summer, do you really think Liverpool would've turned it down, even if the bid came in on the last day of the transfer window? No chance (IMO). FSG would've taken the money in a heartbeat.

Ultimately, clubs will always take the moral high-ground on selling top players to their biggest rivals...until, of course, that particular principle is bought-off by a massive transfer fee.



NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


143 comments:

  1. £40,000,001 isn't contempt ? hmmmmm

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  2. Say what you want but Arsenals bid was insulting and reeked of info being linked to them, why the extra pound?

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  3. Calling Arsenal's bid 'insulting' is just tabloid-fuelled drivel IMO (no offence to you personally - just a general comment)


    If Arsenal believed that Suarez's buyout clause was 40m, and anything over that would force negotiations, why would they offer anything more.


    The question we should be asking here is how did that bid get leaked to the press? LFC probably leaked it.

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  4. I don't get what you Liverpool fans are so angry about? Arsenal made a bid for Suarez, it was rejected, we toyed with the idea of improving our offer but saw that you didn't want to sell so we abandoned the deal. I cannot see why that makes you so angry, any team is allowed to bid for any player is they want to.

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  5. sorry jaimie your wrong i dont believe fsg would have sold suarez at any price to a rival club maybe abroad it would be shooting yourself in the foot

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  6. Funniest thing about the Suarez saga was that Liverpool kept saying that moving from Liverpool to Arsenal would be a sideways move - yet Mourinho has clearly stated that he refused to loan Ba to Arsenal as he sees them as direct competitors for the title - and then loaned out Moses to Liverpool.
    Enough said.

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  7. I totally agree. I don't get the antipathy - it smacks of fans just jumping on the media bandwagon. The tabloid press really went to town over Arsenal's allegedly insulting 40m + £1 bid, and many fans have just adopted that view.

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  8. Why did they sell Torres to Chelsea then?! Your point doesn't make sense in light of that transfer.

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  9. I think there's a major difference between Ba and Moses. Ba is much more of the finished article, and has a history of scoring goals. Moses is a young player with a long way to go, so of course he doesn't mind loaning him out.

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  10. thing is arsenal will struggle to get top four just like liverpool spurs chelski man city and the scum to battle between themselves

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  11. Yea it would have been sideways until Arsenal bought Ozil. They still lack a good striker if Giroud get injured. Liverpool would be a team to beat this term.

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  12. Christian Purslow stated on Sky Sports, a few days ago, that Torres was sold as the 50 million release clause was met. Contracts talk, simple.

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  13. According to carra, Torres was never the same after the injury and everyone was shocked a bid of £50m came in for Torres, hence why Liverpool sold .

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  14. we are abit further down the road and cant attract the players that maybe we could back then so no real hope of getting a world class replacement so this time around it would make it harder to break into the top four

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  15. Aldridge seems to be under the illusion that Liverpool are still a 'Big' club. Just another deluded LiverFool. No team without a title for over 22 years can call themselves 'big'. They can't even make the top 5 lately.


    And they've spent more than £100m more than Arsenal in the last 2 years.


    Maybe Arsenal treated Liverpool with contempt 'cos that's what they deserve! It ain't the 70/80's anymore and you dont have Souness & Dalglish in your team. You've got Henderson and Lucas.


    And lets not forget - SUAREZ WANTED TO LEAVE!!!!!!


    Get over yourselves and try to qualify for the Europa Cup this season

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  16. Did torres hand in a transfer request?

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  17. There is also the "relationship" factor between BR and JM, correct me if i am wrong but BR was a youth coach for JM @ Chelski?

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  18. Bitter old man.


    Every club bids & every clubs receives bids. Nothing wrong with it & no need to call every single bid 'derisory' especially in this case when both players wanted to leave.

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  19. Wouldn't surprise me if we leaked the 40mil + 1 to them to start a big showdown like you say PR people know exactly how to work it, or there wouldn't be transfer deadline day, players agents clubs they all playing the game.


    I think ours was to get Suarez in arsenals target then show the intent of telling them where to go, Maybe just manager mind games at owner level. You just never know.


    One think I think FSG have done is bumped his price up massively for next season. He does look like hes back interested watching the games he looks like he is raring to play again.

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  20. The only people who leaked Arsenal's bid to the press were LIVERPOOL. They could've rejected the bid and said nothing. But they wanted to say 'Hey look at us rejecting the bid!'. It's all PR and no class and in Henry they have the most repellent owner in football.


    Liverpool in the last couple of years have been quite repugnant with their dealing of the Suarez racism, the t-shirts, the Hodgson sacking and obvious snub of him getting a seat in the directors box and even the fans grafitti before the ManU game. What a rancid club they have become.


    Shankly is spinning in his grave to how liverpool are now.

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  21. A Goalkeper, a CD, a CDM also to name a few, it bewilders me that these goons think there all that with a creative player for 42+m that they didn't really need,i MO he does improve there options but from an outsider looking in that money could have been spent better elsewhere.

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  22. Not sure where your coming from as Suarez has scored more for club and country than cavani yet you value him as 10mill less if arsenal were serious they would have bid a proper amount. Pluschelsea bid 25mill for Rooney again no where near the value this is what Aldo is saying

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  23. you know its not worth it talkin to any livershit fans .... dont wast your time at least Arsenal offered 40 that guys not worth 20 m ... look at his record how many times band red card & biting peoples heads off and abussing players ... not worth 15 all the trouble that ass hole has done i hope he breaks his fuckin leg and never play football again that player is a discrace

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  24. Why the pound though? Maybe I read too much into it's symbolic meaning but the extra pound seems spiteful and downright arrogant... again probably just me seeing things that aren't there.

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  25. bye then, go to your own blog site!

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  26. What a class act you are...

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  27. After this transfer window, ARSEnal would never have my respect again, they knew Suarez is a fiery character (thats why we love him) they unsettled him. They insulted LFC by bidding 1 extra £1 (when ARSEnal put that bid I knew they weren't serious)... If ARSEnal was serious they would of bid £45mill... Your S#*T club did it again to Newcastle with Yohan Cabaye unsettled him before the first match of the season... and again it didn't materialized. It looked like an act of desperation bidding for all sorts of players in the last week of transfer window, hoping and praying that the BALE deal will go through to get Ozil... If the BALE deal didnt go through, you wankers wont be commenting on this forum.

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  28. If he wasn't worth it why did your club bid so much, and why did your fans act like the end of the world was nigh when Liverpool wouldn't sell him, you just come off sounding bitter.

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  29. £40,000,001 was the minimum price required for the player to have access to talk to other clubs, according to the player and his agent himself, and you blame the offering club for contempt?
    Who was the club to reveal such news when it should be kept in private? Who was the club that stated the everyone in the club treated the player "like son", then week after, blasting him for disgraceful for wanting to leave, then ban him from training and then keep him in the end, all in public?
    Arsenal stuck to their ground to keep all their transfer as quiet as possible, to respect the opposition clubs and the player from getting media hype and you are having a dig?
    You should learn where to point the contempt towards, I suggest you look in the mirror and pointed at that
    Get real

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  30. more than probably, even the coach came out with the blast, if they didn't leak it, he wud've denied the bid rather than calling Arsenal disgraceful

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  31. and ozil is get real ozil worth 20 million tops

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  32. It's actually quite funny seeing these Arsenal "fans" (and I use that term lightly) come on here and hurl their abuse. They think because they've signed Ozil they'll become title contenders...? Gimme a break. Ozil is a great player no doubt but would any one have said Arsenals problem is a lack of creativity? Their squad is thin, If Giroud gets injured who do they replace him with? Their 'Keeper, their back line. Arsenal will be doing well to get fourth again. Period.

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  33. Bla, Bla, Bla geeze wake up son!


    His agent probable leaked the supposed contract clause that never was, why would LFC do that??


    ARSEnil if serious in buying (not keeping you fools that pay OTT for season tickets happy) he would have payed the "market value"

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  34. Yeah, right...if the buyout clause was believed to be £40m then why not offer 'Pool say, £45m, because what's a couple of million between friends, eh?


    Seriously?!

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  35. I have then for 5th or 6th at best.

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  36. go away and shut up Aldridge who cares what you think you clown

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  37. You guys practically moved in at ladyarse blog.

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  38. and i am guessing you thing ARSEnil are a bigger club than LFC? please tell me, how many CL's have you won?

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  39. I'm not saying that, If the clause was £40m why not offer that then? The pound is like tapping you on the hand and saying 'here you good little boy, run along now'.

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  40. you really think u know it all, if arsenal would have bid 50 mil plus it would have been turned down fact. they sold torres because he was finished. and proved right to sell that dud. they would never sell there best player to gunners because thats who we fighting 4 top 4.

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  41. Steven - please stop with the ARSEnil nonsense. Remain civil when posting. Thanks.

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  42. So then what the difference here? And the comments I read there weren't hurling abuse like they are here... says a lot about your "fans"

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  43. Apologies JK, understood.

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  44. precisely, if all u Liverpool fans know it is not in serious intention, or the player's will in the end is to stay with the club, then y linger in this argument?
    Don't you find it a bit childish?
    A bid was made, leaked (whoever it is), Liverpool went with it and start blasting unnecessarily (if they want to keep it in respectful way, they can do it with better PR method, but they chose blasting).
    We found out from the striker what we want and we decide to dis-continue, end of that news, move on?

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  45. You are trying to save face by attacking Aldridges view. It is a matter of record that you misread and misunderstood the nature of Suarez contract clause and were repeatedly proved wrong as the saga unfolded. Arsenal's behaviour was clumsy and unquestionably I'll advised. If someone advertises a house at 'offers over '250000' you do not offer '250001' because that would be self evidently flippant and would clearly indicate you were not a person to seriously negotiate with. That is what has occurred between Liverpool and arsenal.

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  46. If 'arse'nal were serious about Suarez, they know his a fiery charachter (thats why we love him) they would have made a proper bid of £45mil, but a bid of an extra £1 is just insulting. They did it again with younis cabaye unsettlled the player before the first game of the season, act of desperation from a club like arsenal. IF the Bale deal didnt go through OZIL wouldn't of came

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  47. I agree completely, this was a messy transfer saga on (IMO) both fronts (Arsenal and for Liverpool). His (supposed) clause was leaked and then the rest as they say is "history".


    GL for the season ahead

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  48. Great reply Steven, I dislike pointless arguments. Media/Forums are using us to hype up unnecessarily incident to boost hitting rates.
    GL on both team

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  49. John Aldridge being a bit of a biased knob there. Some things never change...a rabid, foaming at the mouth ex Liverpool player spewing out at rhe media. Hmmm haven't heard that before....

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  50. As the author stated every player has there price, but that said i can honestly say (IMO) that LFC do not have a tendency to sell there best players to teams with whom they are competing with (unlike other teams in the league - no names). Torres was sold to Chelsea for a sum of £50m as he had handed in a written transfer request.


    LS if/when sold will go abroad, if "we" don't qualify for the CL this will be in the summer, and i honestly think had Real Madrid come in with a 40m+ bid at the time Arsenal did we would have accepted it.


    Real Madrid did test the water with a reported 35m bid this weekend and this was rejected as LFC wouldn't have time to find a suitable replacement.

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  51. Although we could have done with another striker and a defensive player we (arsenal) did concede the least goals away last season and had the second best defence in the league behind united.
    Not bad considering we have a rubbish defence

    Liverpool are better this year but will still struggle to get top4 as they haven't closed the gap enough, 12points was a big margin last year

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  52. Please change your username for any further comments. This is backhanded sniping, and any further comments under this username will be deleted.

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  53. Lol since when have you dippers been "fighting" us for 4th. You've been irrelevant to us in that resoect for a good few years now. That os a fact. Maybe look at surpassing Everton first...

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  54. Just make sure that Rodgers fellow doesnt tire out Senor Suarez for when Arsenal sign him in january.


    Good night.

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  55. One thing is for sure, its going to be a dam good season ahead, Chelsea, Man U, Man C (all have new managers) Spurs (buying the world) Arsenal (same old from them i think again this year playing catch up one knocked out of the CL) and LFC making very good acquisitions, all this combined = GREAT SEASON

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  56. Firstly, I believe Pere Guardiola is to blame for the whole £40m+1 debacle. He leaked everything from the buyout clause, to the bid refusal, to the press. That's what agents do. Create hype to push up fees. Fact is, Suarez stayed because his agent couldn't force a move away after FSG's legal team stepped in. So to the "angry" fans; don't buy into the crap tabloids print. They WANT to cause rifts between Liverpool and Arsenal supporters to sell their hogwash.

    Secondly, I believe Liverpool would've sold Suarez if a buying club met their £50m valuation. Be it Arsenal or whoever. That's just business.

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  57. AndWithSuchSimplicity11:08 pm, September 04, 2013

    They were trying to be clever. And it backfired on them. They could have added a hundred thousand pounds, but you are dead right the "plus £1" was arrogant and smacked of a small kid waking up one day to realise that all of a sudden he's now the playground bully.

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  58. The guy who writes for this site is so arrogant he believes everything he writes. Its unbelievable and I can't stop laughing thinking of it. He isn't as knowledgeable as he believes, is such a pessimist and contradicts himself at every opportunity. I only seen this site cos it popped up on my news feed. Don't bother replying, I won't see it as I'm not gonna come to read the drivel written here again.

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  59. Your right,
    That was very cheeky...
    I personally thought that was a cheap thing to do.

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  60. AndWithSuchSimplicity11:12 pm, September 04, 2013

    No. Ozil is worth every bit of the £42M they paid, but when the euphoria dies down they may realise that they wasted the summer when they should have gone for a centre back, goalie and a striker.
    Really, Arsenal were crying out for a midfielder to dominate games (Fellaini), whilst Utd needed creativity (Ozil).
    Yet they'll still try and convince us they both did the best business..........

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  61. Arsenal have signed a great player in Ozil and I'm happy we still have Suarez. Games between the top 6 will be interesting this season and i don't believe it's foregone conclusion that the top 3 will be as most people seem to think, even though it is the most probable.

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  62. AndWithSuchSimplicity11:16 pm, September 04, 2013

    The Hodgson sacking ?????!!!! Get a grip, Tom.

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  63. My take on this is, both players wanted away (want) so why not put in an offer.. not taking the pi$s just testing the water... Don't see anything wrong in this tbh.. clubs can say no and they did.

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  64. Because the clause in the contract obviously said "offers over £40m". I'm surprised Arsenal didn't offer £40m + 1p, they probably thought "lets make it a pound so they don't get insulted", but how wrong were they? He sounded off in the media like a diva getting his knickers in a twist, I translated his statement to you're going to have to offer loads more money because players like Suarez don't come along often and Bales going for £80m and Suarez is as good as him.

    People paid so much for strikers this transfer window.

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  65. Think you're wrong (leaked by agent) had it been asked of LFC they would have given AFC a price. And more to the point had he wanted to really go he would have handed in a transfer request... and hell I wish he had.. god only knows what crap he will pull next.

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  66. AndWithSuchSimplicity11:28 pm, September 04, 2013

    On paper I agree that 12 points is a big gap, BUT (and this is one of those "auntie.....bollocks......uncle" moments)........ :


    Apart from the Arsenal home game where we got battered Liverpool more than held their own against United at home, City home and away, and Chelsea home and away. They should also have been able to hold a 2-0 lead at the Emirates. Which by my reckoning is 10 points chucked away where we couldn't hold a lead. Add to that Sturridge missing a sitter at OT which would have got us a (lucky) point and a 2-0 lead chucked away at Goodison, and suddenly the gap doesn't look quite so insurmountable.


    The fact is; last year we played better at home against United and lost, this year we had the mental toughness to see the job through.

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  67. I'm sure Suarez will be shattered come Jan.. cause if he isn't he ain't doing a shift.. and will be in the reserves

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  68. Well there was no clause to begin with. But for it to be 'in excess' of £40m doesn't make sense. Things like that are always of a certain number and up IE starting £40m and upwards.

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  69. No liverpool would not have sold Suarez to arsenal for £55 million as they are LFCs realistic challengers , we was not in the same league as Chelsea when they bid £50 million for Torres so it was a no brainier to sell Torres ! If we sold Suarez to AFC we would be massively strentgen them and make ourselves a lot weaker ! And it will be proved that we made the right decision , because if arsenal think they can buy ozil, and all there problems go away ! They have got to get there heads out the sand, they need 3 or 4 more top players to challenge for a major title .

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  70. Not going there been there all summer ! Load of bull

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  71. Lets see if you get near Chelsea at the end of the season and then come back to your comment! If you think that ozil will make you challenge for the league your massively wrong because you had the best striker in the premiership who scored 30 odd goals ( RVP ) and didn't get near the top of the league ! So what makes you think 1 player regardless of how good he is will make AFC challenge ???
    Enough said my friend.

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  72. To offer 1 pound over 40 mil. thinking it will trigger some kind of clause is being "smart", but it backfired. I don't know who leaked it but Liverpool has a right to tell the truth if they want. The contract details should be confidential, yet somehow Arsenal learned about the clause, even if that wasn't clause to sell Suarez, but only to notify his agent the bid has been received.
    Liverpool had a case to report Arsenal to FA for taping up a player, but they didn't go that way. They just decided to laugh it off in the media. I am no big fan of FSG but I believe they handled the situation brilliantly.

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  73. I don't believe we would have sold him actually, at any price. Certainly not to Arsenal anyway

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  74. Agree with Jaimie here.


    I don't understand why people are insulting Arsenal for bidding $40m + £1.


    Liverpool clearly didn't have to sell the player and were well within their rights to refuse the bid. But why the need to air the bid in public and inform the media? If the players not for sale, end of negotiation.


    Anyhow with Sturridge playing well and wanting to play up top, its going to present Rodger's with it's own dilemma. Be interesting to see how both players respond once Suarez is ready to play again.


    It's My belief that Suarez will sold this January. He's not European cup-tied and Liverpool need to balance their books(financially) somehow. But I guess time will tell.

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  75. AndWithSuchSimplicity12:31 am, September 05, 2013

    Because the +£1 wasn't JUST a bid for a player. It was a clumsy attempt by a club to say, "We have money now and we'll do what we want. We have insider information, so we'll bid the amount his supposedly confidential contract specifies plus enough to buy you a couple of bottles of vimto from Poundland."
    They wound Liverpool up, so Liverpool rightly reacted in kind.

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  76. BR himself said that if any club offered a hard to turn down bid for Suarez, he could possibly leave. It's business. No player is bigger than the club. Plus, a bigger sum of money would help in building the team etc.

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  77. well at least it let Arsenal talk to Suarez and confirm they could afford his personal terms. If they couldn't do that then there would be no point continuing negotiations with Liverpool. The bid was never to buy him for that, just to formally open negotiations.

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  78. Yes I saw Purslow say this on sky sports news deadline day coverage. He said he negotiated the contract with Torres' agent which included the £50 million buy out clause. So Liverpool had no choice but to accept Abromavich's £50 million. They couldn't reject it even if they had wanted to at the time.

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  79. no thanks on Fellaini, he's no destroyer, and an inconsistent attacker that will be exposed at Utd.

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  80. What is most interesting about the Suarez story is that it not only exposed the agent for leaking information he shouldn't have, it exposed Arsenal as naive in their trust of said agent, and it exposed Liverpool as slightly underhand in their contract negotiations, using the detail of the English language to flummox a foreign agent. The wording of the clause made it meaningless. But why would it be in there unless the agent at least thought it meant something? And Liverpool FC adhered to the wording but no the spirit of it. Rather than, as it implies, starting negotiations with the interested club, they leaked the bid to the press and then collectively pissed and moaned about every day for a week.


    The extra pound thing is just a ruse, as Arsenal had obviously been told that it had to exceed 40m. Having previously had fairly friendly relations for several decades, there is no way the AFC board would deliberately undermine that for some corporate dick jousting. Personally I think the reactions were as much about Kroenke and Henry as anything else. Either that, or it was a deliberate attempt to flush out interest from Madrid, or to use the Arsenal bid to slap a big hands off sign on the player for all the clubs of Europe to notice.


    As an Arsenal fan, its all fair enough to me. I didn't want Suarez as I dislike him intensely for all his ability, and equally I've always appreciated the cordial relationship between the two clubs and would much rather Liverpool than Man U, Chelsea, Spurs or Man City.


    I still remember Anfield in 1989. Our players brought out bouquets of flowers as a gesture to the fans after Hillsborough, and the Anfield fans stayed and applauded Arsenal's title win despite how much it hurt to lose that way, in that of all years.


    Utter class from both clubs, and it made me realise what Sport can be. Screw the money men, the Oligarchs and the trophy wives. We are two great old clubs, with a real bond to our communities, and have a tradition of excellence and respect.


    Lets keep it that way.

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  81. How many premiership titles have you won? how many seats in your stadium?

    Bigger club? None of that matters. Both are huge clubs. I don't know why all this animosity is here. I would much prefer to see Arsenal and Liverpool battling for the title than Utd and Chelsea.

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  82. strong words from an also-ran.

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  83. I'm less angry and more relieved that Liverpool is resolved to no longer be a selling club, which is what they were under Hicks and Gillete. To lose a player like Suarez to a direct competitor would have been humiliating, particularly since the whole team was built around him. There now seems to be a unified plan set in place. Onward and upward.

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  84. Can't handle the truth...? At least I know where the Club I support is at.

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  85. As would we all but the fact is neither club is good enough realistically to win the title. There could be surprises don't get me wrong but will the two of our clubs be in the title race come May? More then likely not.

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  86. Chelsea paid the buyout clause fee.

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  87. To be honest Liverpool and Arsenal fans shouldn't be angry at each other, the ones receiving the hate should be Suarez's agents.

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  88. well its clearly a bigger jump for 'pool, good buys but they will take time to adapt. This year is all about setting up for a title push next year for you guys. This season is a sighter. Same for us really. No harm in harbouring an outside chance though :)

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  89. Haven't we head this for the last 16 years? Guess which club club has been in top four all those years....Arsenal :)

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  90. Is it not possible that the extra pound was "leaked" by Liverpool management itself?
    First there was a 35M bid, maybe, just maybe the second bid came after something along the lines of "you'll have to do better than 40M if you want him." That or the 35m bid was a decoy for the follow up bid. it's hard to say.

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  91. On what do you base your accusation that "LFC probably leaked it"?

    Whoever leaked it, Arsenal were taking the piss by signalling that they had knowledge of a confidential contract clause in violation of Premier League rules. I'm surprised Liverpool didn't seek the same sancions they themselves faced over the Christian Zeige affair.

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  92. Torres went for 50mill, Tottenham were not seen as a rival until 2010. RVP went cause he wanted to, but also cause he refused to sign a contract that put Arsenal in a weak position. Neither Rooney nor Suarez had only 1 year left and its not like the offer was 50million, Chelsea bid 40 for Rooney and 40,000,001 for Suarez. That £1 is a piss take. Might as well have offered 40 mill+ a coffee, the coffee would've been a less of a pisstake than a £1

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  93. I highly doubt Arsenal sent any spies in to lfc headquarters or anything, more likely Suarez's people or someone else informed Arsenal offers over 40 mill would open negotiations so they did, got rejected then didnt say anything more about it.

    All the manufactured outrage directed at Arsenal's opening bid was just a smokescreen over Suarez wanting to leave, congrats on convincing him to stay.

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  94. For me there are two levels of big money bids. We valued Suarez very highly and probably even genuinely considered his worth to be more than 50 million. It's a lot of money, but it's actually not totally daft considering how many players have gone for that much. And I don't think the club would have sold Suarez for a fee they thought merely reflected his value unless we could be assured of a replacement. It isn't at all clear that the club had a suitable target lined up, even one that might have to bought at an over-inflated price. As much as 50 million might have been, I do believe that the view of the club was universally that we were not going to leave ourselves short while giving a leg-up to a rival. Who's to say what players we could have tried to get, but even if Arsenal bid 60 million, if Rodgers didn't think we could secure a replacement then the sale wouldn't have happened. I think it would have had to be Bale money to get us to sell Suarez without caring so much about what to do next.


    Torres was different. We already had acquired a new striker and Comolli and Dalglish identified Carroll as a player to fill the void if Torres has to go. Not to mention Torres wasn't up for it anymore, as confirmed by plenty of recent statements by JC. I think the club, despite their statements, were more willing to sell and in a much better position to handle that particular round of transfers where as in this summer just past there is not much evidence we had any player lined up to replace Suarez.

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  95. Arsenal
    with RVP = top 4
    without RVP = Top 4.
    football is not a one man show..

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  96. Respectfully I have to completely disagree with the authors (opinion) that FSG would have accepted £50 million and sold to Arsenal, let alone in a heart beat or on the last day. It simply wouldn't have happened! Would they have accepted £50m from RM at the start of the transfer window...possibly

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  97. Probably leaked it? Based on what? The desire for Suarez to be sold domestically? Wanting to keep the selling price down?
    Guadiola wanted to keep it secret but LFC leaked it to help him and weaken their own position?
    That's about the most nonsensical thing I think I've ever seen you say. Especially since they didn't entertain the bid
    I believe your usual logical mind is rendered injeffective when it comes to Suarez. You will of course deny it, but come on...
    *shakes head*

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  98. Torres had a RELEASE CLAUSE. £50m
    He was relatively useless due to poor form and even poorer attitude by then. £50m was daylight robbery, but even then we didn't actively try to sell him

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  99. And how many of those 16 years did that do anything but fill the pockets of the shareholders? We were in the top 4/CL for what, 12 of those years.
    Thing is, we won it.

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  100. You do know it was only a name change don't you?
    Don't worry, changes in both are coming. Probably before you add either PL or CL trophies to your neglected cabinet.
    We have never in recent times gone 8 years without a trophy..

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  101. Come on guys! We should NEVER sell Suarez within the prem. send him to Spain or Italy with all the other drama queen floppers. HadSpanish or Italian club come forward early in the process, we could have aggressively pursued one or two really top scorers. Only an idiot would sell him inside the prem, period end of discussion......

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  102. That doesn't mean you have to offer it. First of all, Arsenal should have just made the offer for what they thought the player was worth, not based on confidential information they should not have in the first place. What baffles me is that we got smacked around by the FA when we did it with Ziege yet there has been no action against Arsenal what so ever. As for Suarez being left to train on his on being contradictory with being treated like a son; you may not have kids but when you do, you'll find you can love them and discipline them every single day of their lives.

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  103. LFC probably did and they were entitled to after such an insult. Arsenal should offer more because Arsenal should offer their value of the player. Being told by a slimy agent what the "clause" is is one thing, acting upon it an entirely different matter. Anyway, they offered it and took the risk of losing the deal all together and they did. Whether they should have is irrelevant, they are now stuck paying more for a far inferior player who still doesn't solve the issue they really needed to address, being that they lack a killer up front. Maybe Giroud can finally become it this year but I doubt it.

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  104. Interesting to see no enquiry from the PL, Into how Arsenal had confidential info regarding the Suarez contract. The agent and Arsenal broke regulations and should be punished, If it was Liverpool the cockney press would be lynching Liverpool, parasites the lot of them.

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  105. Since January Liverpool have been dominant, keeping clean-sheets galore and 2nd top PL goal-scorers. we have accumulated more pts than Man Utd over the last 19 games, we beat them without Toure, Cissokho, Allen and LUIS SUAREZ. Add to that Sakho, llori and Moses..............................that squad is streets ahead of Arsenal's!!

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  106. I advice advise Jaimie to stop attacking Suarez if he is a REAL RED

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  107. Yea I agree taking the Pi $$ out of Liverpool , but who give a f**k about ushited.

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  108. Torres submitted transfer request, just saying.

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  109. I'm not following the papers because I don't read any of them and never will, they found out about the clause unofficially. Which to me amounts to the same as tapping up.
    And yes any club can offer what they want for a player, however this offer showed they used information they shouldn't have had hence underhanded

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  110. Spot on AndWithSuchSimplicity couldn't have said it better myself.

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  111. Because the clause, allegedly, was anything OVER 40 million. They could have offered 40 million and 1p to be even more arrogant

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  112. I agree. The money paid for Bale and Ozil is ridiculous. You can't blame the players of course but if Ozil is worth 42 million and Fellaini and Willian are worth 30, it makes the Sturridge and Coutinho buys look even better than they ever did. With Arsenal it kind of feels like Wenger, after turning profit for so long, said ok now I just want to waste it all in one go. Not to say Ozil isn't a great player, he is, but 42 million seems a bit steep to me.

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  113. The table will tell the truth at the end of the season

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  114. They would have. Had the offer come in before the first two weeks of July and had it been 55 million or more. Like JK says, they sold Torres who was maybe a bit off for but still by far one of our best players in our squad at that time.

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  115. And Mourinho is some kind of oracle now? He's entitled to his opinion of course. We'll see who was right when the final match has been played.

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  116. I wouldn't expect that much from Man U either. Ferguson did a great job winning the title and dominating for so long with this squad. Man for man they are not that good. Sure they have good, even great, players but so do we, Arsenal and the others you've mentioned. I think Chelsea are going to win the title by at least six points but anything behind that is up for grabs. We're in our second season of transition but Man U and City are in their first. Spurs have good material but the weakest manager of the six (IMO) and Arsenal will continue to look like an indoor soccer team. Lots of technique and fluid attacks but no defence and always trying to walk the ball into the goal rather than shooting it.

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  117. This january hopefully LFC can get sign for Kryiakos Papadoulos.Goodcentreback can playing versatile.LFC need to protect cleansheet record by siging many defender can score the goal and can operate anywhere times needed. Papadoulos also look very solid if he can been used as CDM or Holder ball.Please add 1 more high calibre striker or maybe 2 if Luis Suarez serious want to leave LFC.

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  118. Anyone who wants to leave Liverpool must be nuts, If ever there was a time to stay it's now...............this team is on an upward curve in a big way!!

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  119. Purslow confirmed on deadline day that Torres had a £50m release clause in his contract.

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  120. Jamie we have nine points and top of the league. We also have a really good squad. There hasn't been much talk of the 3 stooges in the last few days. Any chance of writing a positive article.

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  121. In other news, Comolli has said Man United need a Director of Football to help them with their transfers. I say he's right and they should hire him. That would take care of this richest club in the world stuff and a Premiership challenge for at least three years. We could even sell them Coates. Shame all the others are gone..

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  122. Yea LFC leaked that info....... wake up you sheeple. Pathetic like your frail french manager.

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  123. I think we have been too harsh on Coates. Everyone is judging him on just one Oldham game.

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  124. 3 games mate, just 3 games.

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  125. I think we are done with CD for foreseeable future.

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  126. Henry/Warner came out and confirmed that they had a verbal deal of letting Suarez go but couldn't sell him due to underwhelming offers. So if player was promised to be sold, I don't find it unethical that his agent was looking in the market for buyers.

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  127. According to Christian Purslow, there was a 50m buy out clause in Torres' contract so not so much as money talking for the club.

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  128. He's at the club three years now? Couldn't force his way into the team. Don't forget, we signed Agger when he was 21 and he became an immediate starter (when he wasn't injured). If Coates was good enough, he would have forced his way in by now. Shame, he looked really good in the Copa America that time

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  129. What have Arsenal won in the last 8 years?


    Oh that's right.. nothing :)


    If I had a choice between winning trophies or a fancy stadium its trophies all the way :)


    Pretty sure most football fans would prefer their club winning competitions over having a fancy stadium :)

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  130. With 50m and sufficient time in the transfer window, LFC WOULD have sold Suarez to Arsenal (For less to international clubs). That's just a fact. Even THEY said it. Given enough time and 50m, LFC would have scouted attacking players with quality. You seem to forget that Professional Football has become business first and football second. With regards to Torres, LFC did NOT want to sell him before Chelsea came in with 50m. THAT was their valuation of him and the same applies for SUArez.

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  131. IMO they were holding out for more than that. They are american they have simple logic, Bale wasnt worth 30 mill more than Suarez if you say they would sell him for 50. They would use Bales price tag as a guide.

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  132. I must have missed that. Can you provide a source for this claim? I don't remember Henry or Warner saying anything like that.

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  133. All these convoluted theories are ridiculous. When in doubt follows Occam's Razor - The simplest answer is usually correct. Suarez and his agent told Arsenal about the clause because he wanted out.

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  134. It's not a fact, it's your OPINION and LFC never said any such thing. That is simply the media's usual tactic of reading between the lines. Henry was asked by The Guardian if he would have been prepared to do business earlier in the summer, and he said: “We made that clear early-on.” That has been interpreted as a "Yes", when in fact the position that was made clear early on was that Suarez was not for sale.

    BTW - Chelsea triggered a release clause in Torres' contract AND he handed in a last minute transfer request. It's not remotely comparable.

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  135. “We have had a couple of bids from one club, which have been nowhere near the valuation of what he is worth in this market, so there is no change in that. " John Henry... If you believe that they would not have sold Suarez for 50m, then that's fine. I on the other hand do...

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  136. If Arsenal value Ozil at 42.5 million and Suarez at 40 million + £1 then they need to go to specsavers.

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  137. i agree with most of what you say but i don't think FSG would have accepted £50M from Arsenal on the transfer deadline day. They and BR had said he was staying and it was too late to replace him and I think they would know that they could get at least £50M for him at the end of this season. But who knows?

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  138. Personally, i would prefer to sell outside of england. Luckily Torres has faded, otherwise he could of come back to haunt us. Suarez would of definetly returned to hurt us, so if he goes it has to be abroad. Even if its for slightly less money.

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  139. AndWithSuchSimplicity11:58 am, September 07, 2013

    It doesn't matter who leaked the bid. What matters is the nature of the bid.

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