Transfer news: Ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright says Luis Suarez should snub his former club and stay with Liverpool
Wright has admitted that he can't see the positives of a move to the Emirates for the Uruguayan international
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Your support makes all the difference.Luis Suarez should turn down a move to Arsenal and stay at Liverpool, according to Arsenal great Ian Wright.
Liverpool have already rejected two bids from the Gunners for the Uruguayan striker, and the astonishing admission from Wright comes as Arsenal are considering returning with another offer for the 26-year-old.
"I'd welcome him at Arsenal with open arms," Wright told BBC Sport.
"But if I was Suarez, when you look at everything, it does seem strange he would want to go to Arsenal. I would give Liverpool another season."
Wright made 288 appearances for the north London club, becoming their record scorer with 185 goals until Frenchman Thierry Henry surpassed his tally during his time with the club.
The 49-year-old will host BBC Radio 5 live’s football phone-in show on Sundays with co-presenter Kelly Cates, and he added: "Arsenal finally realise they've got to get up there with the big boys otherwise they will be left behind."
Arsenal are desperate to sign Suarez having seen their original transfer target Gonzalo Higuain move to Napoli, and Gunners fans have become frustrated with the clubs lack of activity in this summer’s transfer market.
Suarez has spoken of his ambition to move to a bigger club playing in the Champions League as well as leaving the Premier League due to his treatment from the British media, but he has not handed in a transfer request or attempted to force a move away from Anfield.
Arsenal’s bid of £40m plus £1 had Suarez believing that a clause had been triggered in his contract that allowed him to discuss a move, but Liverpool have dismissed this and have no intention of selling their prized asset for anything under £50m.
Reds’ captain Steven Gerrard has claimed that Arsenal are rivals for the Merseyside club, and said that a move to Arsenal would be bad for Suarez’s career as he could play for either Barcelona or Real Madrid.
"Gerrard is not someone who comes out and says things flippantly," said Wright, who secured a legendary standing for his time at Highbury.
"If you look at Arsenal - not won anything in eight years, just challenging for fourth place, not really any players there who will make him say 'I'm going to play with him and him' - Gerrard has got a point."
Suarez’s time at Anfield has been a controversial one, with the striker set to miss the first six games of the season as he serves a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic at the end of last season.
But Wright feels that it’s because of incidents like these that give Arsenal a chance of signing him.
"Suarez is a world-class striker and if he didn't have all the baggage around him, I feel the Barcelonas, Real Madrids and Bayern Munichs would be sniffing around," said the ex-England international.
"That's why I believe Arsenal should try to bring him in - because I feel it's the only time they could get someone like that. In another market, I don't think he'd even look at Arsenal."
Wright expressed the frustration at the lack of signings, with manager Arsene Wenger so far bringing in just one player in Auxerre striker Yaya Sanogo on a free transfer, despite releasing Andrey Arshavin, Sebastien Squillaci and Denilson at the end of the season and allowing Johan Djourou to move to Hamburg on-loan.
They are also trying to offload strike duo Nicklaus Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh, and Wright wants to see more players brought in even if they complete the swoop for Suarez.
"We need to see something I've not seen Arsenal do for many years and that is compete to sign players that Manchester United would want, that Manchester City would want and that Chelsea would want," he said.
"But they're running out of time and I don't think, at the moment, they've got the ability to attract those players because they haven't won anything in such a long time. This is why Arsenal are in serious trouble right now.
"I would like to see them go as far as they can to get Suarez, but they can't just buy him and not replenish the rest of the team. I think they need a goalkeeper, two centre-halves, two full-backs - for both left-back and right-back positions - another midfielder and two strikers.
"It doesn't make sense buying Suarez for that money and not backing it up with other signings of the same stature."
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