AfricCon Blogspot Report -
Why Luis Suarez would be a good signing for Arsenal; Since the departures of Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, the Gunners have lacked a player who can score, or create something, from 'nothing'.
Why Luis Suarez would be a good signing for Arsenal; Since the departures of Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, the Gunners have lacked a player who can score, or create something, from 'nothing'.
? He's a top quality player who would add goals and that something special to Arsenal's forward line.
BLOG - The good, bad and ugly of Arsenal's Suarez pursuit
In purely footballing terms there's no doubt he'd make Arsenal a better team.
Why Arsenal's pursuit of Suarez is strange.
Having acknowledged his talent, it's now time to turn attention to his character. Some people can overlook this completely, suggesting morals have no place in football. But when a player's behaviour impacts so greatly on their ability to play for their team, then it's foolish to ignore it.
Suarez's disciplinary problems are well documented. Eight matches for racially abusing Patrice Evra. One match for making an obscene gesture at Fulham fans. Ten games (six of which will be served into the new season) for biting Branislav Ivanovic. And of course he arrived at Liverpool on the back of another biting incident at Ajax which earned him a seven game ban.
Considering everything that's happened, and his relationship with the English football authorities, any further indiscretions are likely to be severely punished. The potential for another lengthy ban is obvious...
For a club like Arsenal, whose transfer record is around £15 million, to go beyond £40 million for a player with this track record is a serious deviation from the norm. Liverpool have rejected the £40 million offer too. Will it take £45 million? £50 million? More?
I wrote here last week about why I thought Gonzalo Higuain was a better choice for Arsenal, and I stand by that. It's personal opinion as to whether you think Saurez is a better player, but is he £20 million plus all that baggage better? That's a very hard case to make.
Why Arsenal's pursuit of Suarez is risky
Having seemingly thrown all their eggs in the Uruguayan basket, it looks as if Higuain is going to Napoli. Wayne Rooney, another rumoured target, looks more likely to move to Chelsea than North London, if he moves at all.
Liverpool's owner John W Henry, via Twitter, seems amused by Arsenal's bid and regardless of how you view the professionalism of such a Tweet, it hardly augurs well for their pursuit of the player.
Suarez has gone on record with his desire to leave England because of the hard time he gets from the press (conveniently ignoring the fact that many of them were lauding him as player of the year last season and that if he'd just not behaved like an idiot they wouldn't be paying that much attention to him beyond his football). Whether he realises it or not, the press he claims to hate so much exist in London too.
