Liverpool owner John W Henry is reported to have said that Luis Suárez did have a £40 million buy-out clause, but the Reds simply refused to sell him to Arsenal when they made their bid of £40 million plus £1 last summer.
Speaking at MIT in Boston - home of his other great love, the Red Sox - Henry apparently said that Arsenal's bid didn't trigger contract talks between themselves and Suárez because "apparently these contracts don't seem to hold".
"Luis Suárez is the top scorer in the English Premier League, which is arguably the top soccer league in the world," Henry is reported to have said. "He had a buyout clause of £40 million. Arsenal, one of our prime rivals, offered £40 million plus £1. What we've found … is that contracts don't seem to mean a lot in England – actually, in world football.
"It doesn't matter how long a player's contract is, he can decide he's leaving. We sold a player, Fernando Torres, for £50 million, that we did not want to sell, we were forced to.
"Since apparently these contracts don't seem to hold, we took the position that we're just not selling.
"It's been great for Luis, it's been great for us. We have three gentlemen up front. Suárez, Sterling, and Sturridge are young, I think those three could be together for a long time."
hat-tip: The Guardian
