Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has claimed that he played a role in preventing Karim Benzema from swapping Real Madrid for Arsenal in 2014.
The Gunners initially held a strong interest in Suarez that summer and allegedly tabled a £40,000,001 offer that was swiftly rebuffed by Liverpool.
Suarez was also linked with Real Madrid after scoring 31 goals and registering 17 assists in just 33 Premier League games in what proved to be his third and final full season at Anfield.
Managed by Carlo Ancelotti during his first spell in charge, Real Madrid attempted to raise funds for their pursuit of Suarez by selling Benzema, who was wanted by Arsenal under former boss Arsene Wenger.
Real Madrid allegedly planned to sign Suarez after the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil, but the move collapsed following the Uruguayan's infamous bite of Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in a group-stage match.
Suarez was subsequently handed a four-month ban from all football activity as well as a nine-game international ban, while Benzema's proposed switch to Arsenal failed to materialise as he ended up staying at Real Madrid.
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Despite his lengthy suspension from football, Real Madrid's El Clasico rivals Barcelona reached an agreement with Liverpool to sign Suarez for a reported £75m, and he went on to score 195 goals in 283 appearances over a successful six-year period.
Speaking to Uruguayan radio station DelSol about the transfer saga, Suarez said: "Before the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid wanted to sign me, and everything was on track.
"They were planning to sell Benzema to Arsenal - it was all done. When the World Cup started, Barcelona joined the race and obviously I preferred Barca.
"With the bite situation, Madrid lowered their interest and Barca became more interested despite the punishment. I will always be grateful for that. In the end I had both options and I chose Barcelona because it was my dream."
Former Arsenal manager Wenger admitted at the time that the Gunners failed to reach an agreement with Benzema, telling reporters via The Mirror: "That's part of the fact you need three agreements for anybody. It's true that it is sometimes connected with other clubs. But we have to accept that."
"Yes [we tried to sign Benzema] because he was in competition with [Gonzalo] Higuain for a while," Wenger added. "It was Higuain for three games, three games for Benzema. He played the game based on passing and connections, so he was an ideal player up front.
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"He's a striker who makes people around him better and sometimes you have strikers who score goals but they make players around them worse. He's not one of them. If you put Benzema in the team, I would want to play with him."
Benzema went on to spend another eight years at Real Madrid and established himself as a club legend before deciding to join Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad last summer upon the expiration of his contract.
Following Arsenal's failed attempts to sign Benzema in 2014, Wenger instead recruited Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona and Danny Welbeck from Manchester United; the Gunners ended the season in third place in the Premier League and won both the FA Cup and Community Shield.
As for Suarez, he went on to win a total of 13 trophies during his time at Barcelona, including four La Liga titles and one Champions League, before joining Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2020.
The 36-year-old striker then returned to his homeland to represent boyhood club Nacional, where he began his professional career, before enjoying a successful spell with Brazilian outfit Gremio in 2023, scoring 26 goals and providing 17 assists in 53 games.
Suarez now plies his trade with former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba at MLS side Inter Miami, and he is set to make his debut in American soccer when the 2024 season begins against Real Salt Lake on Thursday.
Oliver Thomas
