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EXCLUSIVE: Luis Suarez on Arsenal mistake, his love of Liverpool and Barca friendship
LUIS SUAREZ has raised the heat ahead of Arsenal's Champions League clash with Barcelona tonight by claiming it would have been a huge mistake if he had signed for the Gunners.
Suarez won the Champions League with Barca last year after Wenger failed to sign him from Liverpool
Arsene Wenger famously targeted the Uruguay international in the summer of 2013, making a calculated offer of £40m-plus-one in the understanding that would trigger a release clause in his Liverpool contract.
However, the Anfield club stood firm, Arsenal refused to up their offer, and in the end Suarez packed his bags for the Nou Camp a year later when Barcelona agreed to stump up £75m for his services.
Suarez has been reluctant to talk about the Arsenal episode, but with Barcelona heading to the Emirates tonight for the first leg of their Round of 16 encounter, he admitted it was much more difficult to avoid the subject.
"It's inevitable that people will talk about them trying to sign me, with us facing them in Europe," he said.
In the meantime there have been few who have been able to stand in the path of the destructive might of Suarez and his team-mates Neymar and Lionel Messi this season.
The trio already have 91 goals between them and Suarez puts the success of the trio down to their unique bond.
"You don't have to be best friends with the people you work with, but it helps," he said. "The friendship between myself, Messi, and Neymar is genuine, we are all very close.
"I am sure that our friendship off the field is helping our understanding and communication on the field. All the time we are improving, and still we can reach an even higher level."