Henry dashes Suarez hopes

Luis Suarez’s hopes of a “friendly” resolution with Liverpool to his transfer saga suffered a massive blow last night after John W Henry insisted the striker will not be sold to Arsenal or to any other European club this summer.

Liverpool’s principal owner described the prospect of allowing Suarez join Arsenal as “ludicrous” and said he told Ivan Gazidis, the Arsenal chief executive, Liverpool would not entertain a bid from them, a club they perceive as a rival for Champions League qualification.

“We are not going to sell Luis,” said Henry. “For all the top clubs it’s extremely important [not to sell to a rival] but especially for Liverpool because we’re not in Europe this year and have not been in the Champions League for a while.

“To sell to a rival for those positions, or one of them, would be ludicrous. Liverpool needs to be playing in Europe. It needs to be playing in the Champions League. That’s what Liverpool Football Club is about.”

Henry added: “I’m unequivocal that we won’t sell to Arsenal, whatever the bid is,” he said.

“I have not said it to Stan [Kroenke, Arsenal’s majority shareholder] but I had a personal conversation with others at Arsenal and told him [Gazidis] we would not sell to Arsenal.

“He won’t be sold even if a foreign club comes in because we do not have time to sign a suitable replacement.”

Suarez, however, remains determined to find a way out of Anfield and admits even captain Steven Gerrard’s pleas for him to stay cannot offset the lure of the Champions League, while also reiterating he would jump at the chance to go to Real Madrid.

“I’m still defending the Liverpool shirt and I will do so until the last minute,” Suarez told Spanish newspaper Marca.

“My aim is to reach an agreement with the club in a friendly manner and I hope the clause we agreed a year ago is fulfilled. Up to now, it hasn’t been.

“Gerrard has a lot of history with Liverpool and his words are very important but everyone should understand that I need to play the Champions League to keep growing as a footballer.

“Now I have the chance, I want to take it. A Champions League team (Arsenal) is making a big effort to get me and one always wants to be where they feel comfortable.

“There were a lot of rumours (about Real) that were different to reality: Madrid never called me personally or Liverpool to try and negotiate.

“Every player aspires to reach the top and Real Madrid is among the most important clubs in the world. It would be very difficult to say no to Real Madrid.”

Asked where he would choose to go were it up to him Suarez, who earlier in the summer complained about his treatment by the British press, added: “I would decide what’s best for my private life and my family.”

For his part, Arsenal striker Theo Walcott believes the Gunners will remain strong even if they fail to sign Suarez.

Walcott, who would likely see his own ambitions of playing in a central role greatly reduced if Suarez was signed, thinks the Liverpool forward would be a great addition but has also backed Arsene Wenger’s men to do well this year with our without the marquee signing.

“If he (Suarez) comes, great,” Walcott said. “Even if we stay as we are now, we are a great team and we showed that in the last 10 games last season.

“We just need to do that a bit more on a consistent level at the start of this year but every player who is at Arsenal is a top-class player.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United have been left with less than four weeks to strengthen David Moyes’ squad after their long-standing interest in Cesc Fabregas met with rejection.

Fabregas has been Moyes’ number one transfer target since replacing Alex Ferguson as manager, with the pursuit stepped up following Thiago Alcantara’s decision to sign for Bayern Munich.

As recently as Wednesday, United still gave the impression of fancying their chances of luring the former Arsenal skipper to Old Trafford despite repeated claims from the Catalans that Fabregas was remaining where he was.

Fabregas had remained silent on the issue though until yesterday, when he faced the media during the club’s pre-season stop-off in Malaysia.

“Triumphing in Barcelona is what I have been hoping for all my life, it’s been my dream since I was a child,” said Fabregas.

“I am very happy at Barcelona and I haven’t spoken to any other club in the last two years.

“I didn’t have to clarify anything because the only thing I was thinking about was staying at Barca.”

A United spokesman responded by saying: “We appreciate Cesc is a contracted player at Barcelona and completely respect everything Cesc has said today.”