Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard reveals how he stopped Luis Suarez from joining Arsenal

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed he personally intervened to prevent Luis Suarez from joining Arsenal two years ago.

The Uruguay forward, now at Barcelona, was desperate to leave Anfield in the summer of 2013 and was close to joining the Gunners, who thought they'd activated his release clause with a bid of £40,000,001.

Liverpool refused to accept the bid and Suarez eventually agreed to stay at the club for one more season.

Kop hero Gerrard claims he played a key role in changing the controversial striker's mind.

The LA Galaxy midfielder says he convinced Suarez he didn't really want to join Arsenal and also helped to repair the relationship between Brendan Rodgers the former Ajax man.

"Before the meeting you had Luis Suarez training on his own in the afternoon at Melwood," said Gerrard. "Brendan’s relationship with Luis had broken down. I don’t think it was Brendan’s fault. Luis wanted to move on, to play Champions League football and he had people in his ear and people around him forcing him to make moves that maybe he didn’t really want to do.

"So I think it was just a case of being in the middle and trying to heal that relationship with him and Brendan and get him training with the first team again and just chatting to Luis and saying to him, is it Arsenal that you really want or do you want Real Madrid or Barca?

"That was the jist of the conversation, because I knew, deep down that him and his family wanted Barcelona rather than Arsenal."
But Gerrard conceded his desire to change Suarez's mind wasn't purely for the benefit of the striker and his family. He also feared the force Arsenal could become with Suarez up front.

"For me and all the Liverpool supporters and Liverpool people it made no sense at all, him going to Arsenal because it would have made them an awful lot stronger," he said on BT Sport's 'Sport In Focus - Steven Gerrard'.

"When you lose someone like Luis Suarez it makes you an awful lot weaker, so for me, I was prepared to do anything it took to try and make that not happen."