Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has revealed he ‘dreams’ of playing in the Spanish football league.
The Uruguay forward has been a success on the field at Anfield since moving from Ajax for a fee of £23million in January 2011.
However, he has courted controversy and received a lengthy ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
Several high profile clubs, including Barcelona, have reportedly been monitoring the situation and Suarez has now said he would like to test himself in la Liga at some point in his career.
The 25-year-old insists that Spain is one of the top three donestic leagues in the world – along with the Premier League and Serie A.
“I hope to play in Spain in the future, because together with the English and Italian leagues, they are the best in the world,” he told readers of Spanish website marca.com in a Twitter webchat.
For those of us with longer memories, the Robin van Persie transfer saga is painfully familiar.
Back in the late 1970s, Arsenal were building a team capable of winning cups but falling just short of the old First Division title.
They had two brilliant players who were determined to win silverware. Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton. Brady was the exceptional talent, the terrace hero.
Brady joined Juventus in 1980 and his status as an Arsenal legend was retained. Italian football, as I remember, seemed so alluring in those days. Arsenal fans believed he moved to further his career. They still chanted: “We all agree Brady is better than Hoddle.”
Stapleton, a Republic of Ireland centre forward, joined Manchester United a year later. He was jeered and fans chanted insulting songs about him being greedy and it all being about the money whenever he returned to Highbury.
This reminds me so much of the van Persie scenario. Just like Brady, Arsenal fans adore him. He has become a cult hero, scoring goals and playing some fantastic football. He is an asset not just for Arsenal but for the Premier League.
Robin van Persie: goal machine
I believe Arsenal fans would be disappointed, heartbroken and devastated if he went to Real Madrid, Barcelona or Juventus. But they would eventually forgive and start inevitably blaming the club for not doing more to keep him.
But if van Persie followed Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gael Clichy and Kolo Toure and went to Manchester City they would feel utterly and completely betrayed.
There is not the same anger towards Clichy and Toure as there is towards Nasri and Adebayor. But Arsenal fans would not have any of them round for Christmas dinner. I suspect van Persie would be in the Clichy and Toure camp.
But coming after so many public spats with City, so many previous betrayals and Nasri whipping up hatred, van Persie would also leave his hero and legend status behind.
On top of that, Arsene Wenger had said he would not sell another player to City (mind you, he did say he would never sell Fabregas and Nasri in the same summer and promptly did). Van Persie had dropped various hints that he would not go there.
Cesc Fabregas: sold eventually
If van Persie ends up going to City for a huge transfer fee and eye watering contract, it will be seen as betrayal by the fans. A lover spurned. Anything but that.
City are willing to pay £25m in transfer fee, £250,000-a-week and the chance to win trophies. Juventus have made noises about £180,000-a-week and may go higher. But is Italian football still attractive? City seems more likely.
While Nasri is seen as being all about the money by Arsenal fans – they use a dollar sign rather than the ‘s’ in his surname – van Persie is held in a different regard because it is deemed he is more interested in trophies than pound notes.
Samir Nasri: derided for being greedy
But would that change if suddenly van Persie upped and left and went to City? It’s so unthinkable and unbearable that Arsenal fans refuse to believe it.
It’s funny that if you write a story people like then you are a brilliant journalist. If you write one they don’t like then you are lazy. It’s always been the case.
I could write he’s staying and signing a new deal, be a hero and people wouldn’t question the story.
But when I write that a move to Manchester City is a possibility, suddenly I’ve made it up. There’s a long way to go yet. Arsenal are trying to convince van Persie to stay and sign a new contract.
They also seem determined to hold him to the final year of his contract if need be rather than sell him this summer. This one is in danger of becoming yet another transfer saga. It is highly unlikely to be resolved by the time the Dutch begin to prepare for the Euros.
Van Persie’s statement on the final day after the victory at West Brom (after which he stayed out on the pitch on his own to celebrate with the fans) that he would still love the club “whatever happens” seems to sum it all up.
Arsene Wenger with Robin Van Persie: great affection
He clearly has a great affection for Arsenal and all of this is probably pulling him in two. He only has great respect for Arsene Wenger and the meeting on Wednesday with the Arsenal manager and chief executive Ivan Gazidis must have been tough.
Call me naive and an old romantic, but in an ideal world, I believe van Persie would like to stay with Arsenal. Just think about him as being king of the hill, enjoying his role as captain and feeling the love from the fans.
He organised a barbeque for the players and the families. His wife Bouchra organised a girls’ night out for the players’ other halves. He set up a players’ collection to buy Pat Rice a Rolex watch as leaving present.
Robin van Persie with Bouchra
Van Persie was the player who went back into the dressing room at the Hawthorns, dragged Rice back onto the pitch and insitigated his team mates giving him the bumps and a hero’s reception from the fans.
That is not a player who has made up his mind to leave, hates the club and wants to move on. That is a player who will be in pieces. He loves Arsenal and wants the best for the club but, like every player, wants success.
A player like Nasri wouldn’t have done that a year ago. In truth, Fabregas wouldn’t have. He was angling to join Barcelona and didn’t want to play in pre-season games last summer. No matter what happens, I can’t see van Persie behaving like that.
Van Persie is one of the best strikers in the world. And yet he is not winning trophies in recognition of his talent. He deserves to be lifting silverware. Arsenal, despite seven years without a trophy, must convince him they can help him achieve his goals.
I’m not sure whether they can anymore. Arsenal, despite finishing third, need investment. Lukas Podolski is a great start.
New Arsenal signing Lukas Podolski poses in his new kit
But, for me, they need another centre half, top back-up keeper, another midfield enforcer (Yann M’Vila is still on the radar), a wide left player (Junior Hoilett would be a great signing) and another striker.
I’m convinced that with those players and if van Persie stayed then Arsenal would be competitive. But will they sign those players? I’ve got my doubts.
We know Wenger is cautious and last week he said he wouldn’t be spending big this summer. That was hardly a great message to set the agenda for Arsenal’s talks with van Persie on Wednesday.
Now Arsenal face a stand-off, saga and ugly tug-of-war. Call it what you like. City, United and Juventus want to lure him away.
Juventus may cool their interest as privately they believe he’s made up his mind to go somewhere else. Presumably City. But that’s only their take on the issue. But Arsenal want to keep him.
Arsenal have offered him £130,000-a-week, a three year deal and a £5m signing-on fee. For a player with a record of being injury prone and who is 29 in August, that’s a great deal. But he knows he can earn a lot more elsewhere.
We all know the problem and frustration. Van Persie has given everything to try and make Arsenal successful. He is not a Nasri who blames everyone bar himself for wanting to leave to win trophies.
Van Persie held talks with Wenger LAST SUMMER to express his frustration at Fabregas and Nasri being sold and how he wanted top players to be brought in.
Van Persie: turning his back on Arsenal?
This season he’s had the best year of his career. He’s won the Premier League Golden Boot, won both Player of the Year gongs and guided Arsenal into third after a terrible start to the campaign.
But will that be enough? No, I don’t think it will be enough to keep him happy. Arsenal must move fast and swiftly to keep him. Can you really keep a player who wants to go?
Arsenal did it with Fabregas in 2010 when he wanted to join Barcelona. They kept him for another year. It is possible. But then Arsenal would lose van Persie on a free next year.
There are so many outcomes and possibilities. But here’s the one which every Arsenal fan does not want and would find hard to forgive: van Persie to Manchester City.
Don’t do it, Robin. Don’t go to City. You’d break millions of hearts. Just remember Roy of the Rovers and go somewhere else if you have to.
***
Read John Cross’ Arsenal column exclusively on MirrorFootball every Thursday
Wigan owner Dave Whelan believes Roberto Martinez would be ‘better off’ staying at the DW Stadium than leaving to replace Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool.
Whelan revealed that the Latics have not received an official approach from Anfield, although he insists he would not stand in Martinez’s way if the club was made an offer too good to refuse.
However, the 75-year-old doubts the attraction of the Liverpool job and described Anfield a ‘desolate place’.
“The club have great supporters, but the place is a morgue, a desolate place, without heart; all I can say is what a shame for their supporters,” Whelan told ESPN.
“As for a new manager, I am sure they might want my manager, but he’s been the favourite for the West Brom job, then favourite for the Aston Villa job, now he’s favourite for the Liverpool job.
“I don’t know who they will appoint, they have to sort themselves out, all I can tell you is that I haven’t had an approach for Roberto.
“I hope Roberto is with me for the start of the new season, but in football you can never tell. I do know that he is an honest man, and if he is approached by anyone he will tell me about it.
“If Roberto thought he could go to another club because that club was so big and the challenge so great he couldn’t resist it, then I would step aside and let him, but I wouldn’t think he should go to Liverpool, he would be better off with us.”
Harsh call: Whelan insists that Liverpool were wrong to sack Kenny Dalglish
Whelan criticised Liverpool’s decision to dismiss Dalglish and insisted that a proper management structure needs to be put in place at Anfield.
“The club needs a management structure, it needs a boardroom filled with the people running the club,” Whelan continued.
“When we went there, there was Alan Hansen welcoming people, it was a bit embarrassing to be honest, although he was doing his best.
“They shouldn’t be sacking Kenny Dalglish, they should be making him chairman, let him run the place.”
Holding, Marshall, Garner, Croft. Names to strike fear into the hearts of batsmen the world over. The West Indies bowling attack of the late 70s and early 80s was one of the most spectacular sights in sport.
The tradition of terrifyingly quick pacemen was continued into the 90s and early 2000s with the hulking duo of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh as the Windies’ pace attack had not only the skill, but the intimidation factor to help swing a game into their favour.
In this MirrorSport picture special we feature some classic shots of the Windies’ legendary fast bowlers in their heyday and wonder who’ll be the next lightning-quick pace bowlers to carry the mantle for the Caribbean nation in the years to come.
Joel Garner of the West Indies bowling during the World Cup Final at Lords in London in Jun 1979 Full flight: West Indies speed merchant Michael Holding bowls to Mike Brearley during a one-day international in Sydney in November 1979 Steaming in: Michael Holding captured mid-delivery against Middlesex in May 1980 Colin Croft in action against Pakistan at Lahore in 1980 Fearsome four: West Indian fast bowlers Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner in 1981 Warming up: Malcolm Marshall limbers up ahead of a West Indies match in 1983 Take that: Andy Lloyd is hit by a Malcolm Marshall delivery during the First Test at Edgbaston in 1984 Flattened: Marshall’s delivery left Lloyd collapsed on the floor Another victim: Mike Gatting is hit in the face by Marshall bouncer in 1986 High five: Courtney Walsh took an astonishing five wickets for just one run against Sri Lanka in December 1986 Bowled: Graham Gooch trudges off as Curtly Ambrose celebrates dismissing him for 13 at Trent Bridge in 1991 Evasive action: Robin Smith takes extreme measures to avoid a vicious bouncer during the Fourth Test at Old Trafford, 1995 Near miss: Mike Atherton just avoids a chin-high delivery from Curtly Ambrose during the Sixth Test at The Oval in 1995 Telling off: Umpire Dickie Bird gives Kenny Benjamin a stern talking to for bowling too many bouncers at Devon Malcolm at Headingley in 1995 Ambrose attacks: Curtly Ambrose celebrates dismissing Mike Atherton in March 1998 You’re next! Courtney Walsh points straight down the camera lens after dismissing Marcus Trescothick during the Third Test at Old Trafford in 2000
Celtic want Sunderland’s Scottish keeper Craig Gordon – meaning a Newcastle return for Fraser Forster.
Gordon, 29, can leave the Black Cats on a free transfer, but will have to accept a wage cut to join Scotland’s champions.
Sunderland cannot afford to keep three top keepers, with Simon Mignolet their current No.1 and Ireland star Keiren Westwood also on the Mackems’ books.
Forster, 24, is keen to return to the Premier League and prove his potential.
But his immediate future depends on whether a top club comes in to poach Newcastle No.1 Tim Krul.
Forster would be the Toon’s ready-made replacement, if they receive a £15million bid for the Dutchman.
Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has given Chelsea a glimpse of the culture shock they could experience in the Europa League next season.
Should Roberto Di Matteo’s men fail to beat Bayern in the Champions League Final on Saturday, they will find themselves in European football’s second-tier competition after finishing sixth in this season’s Premier League.
Lahm, who also skippers Germany, suffered a similar fate five years ago when Bayern only finished fourth in the Bundesliga.
To wind up two places lower than that, he insisted, would be a nightmare for his club.
He said: “It would be very bad. Very bad. In 2007, we were fourth and only in the Europa League, and that felt very bad.
“Chelsea is comparable to Bayern Munich. We’re both always used to playing in the Champions League so, if you’re thrown into the Europa League, that’s bad.
“It’s difficult. We played against [Madrid side] Getafe in the quarter-finals of the Europa League that year. Normally, I’d go to Madrid to play against Real at that stage of the year.
“That’s the difference. It’s not easy to get used to.”
Bayern are under pressure in Germany having been beaten into second place in the league by Borussia Dortmund, and then thrashed 5-2 by the same team in the German Cup Final last Saturday.
Lahm admits watching Chelsea lift the European Cup at the Allianz Arena, Bayern’s home ground, on Saturday night would cap a disastrous end to the season.
Not in my house: Lahm dreads another Chelsea victory party on Bayern’s own turf
He went on: “In my house? Naturally, that would be awful for us.
“I’m from Munich. I was born in this town. I am one of those [Bayern] supporters and I know how much winning this competition means to them. I am one of them.
“Thank God [in the event of defeat], we’ll be flying immediately to the European Championship afterwards. But of course we want to win [The Champions League].
“Hopefully, it will not be a problem for us to come up against.”
Lahm went on to warn Chelsea that Bayern have learned from the bitter pain of their defeat by Inter Milan in this fixture two years ago – and are ready to make amends.
He said: “I think we’re more experienced now. I think the belief is bigger now than it was two years ago. And what our coach, Jupp Heynckes, has done with us is get a much better grip on the mix between offensive and defensive styles.
Balancing act: Heynckes has found a good mix of attack and defence says Lahm
“That showed in the Bundesliga, where we’ve only conceded 22 goals [in 34 games]. All that will make a big difference.”
Earlier this season, Lahm was quick to insist Bayern are a better side than Chelsea.
But he sounded much more respectful ahead of Saturday’s clash.
He said; “We’ll see in the final. We’re further up in the Bundesliga than Chelsea are in the Premier League, but they’re in the Champions League Final, like us.”
The full-back also insisted he would never be caught up in the kind of incident that has deprived Chelsea of influential captain John Terry.
The former England skipper was sent off in the second leg of the semi-final against Barcelona for needlessly kneeing Alexis Sanchez off the ball.
Captain far-from-sensible: Terry gets his marching orders against Barcelona
Lahm said: “I was surprised. Not because of the red card, but because of what he did
“I can only say, ‘I wouldn’t have done that.’ That wouldn’t have happened to me, because I do everything for my team, and that would have harmed my team.”
Liverpool’s owners have admitted they were forced to rip the heart and soul from the club in sacking Kenny Dalglish.
Yet even as former players lined up to claim they were too ruthless in dismissing an Anfield legend, chairman Tom Werner and principle owner John Henry insisted they had no option but to act decisively to keep the club moving forward.
Dalglish made a dignified exit on Wednesday… as the furious scramble to replace him began.
And a contrite Henry admitted it was an agonising decision to get rid of a man who, for the fans, IS Liverpool FC.
“He is in many ways the heart and soul of the club. He personifies everything that is good about Liverpool Football Club. He has always put the club and its supporters first. Kenny will always be a part of the family at Anfield,” the American admitted.
Reds legend Dalglish was sacked after 18 months in charge, bringing to an end a second managerial tenure at the club that delivered the high of a Carling Cup final triumph, but the low of the club’s worst league showing in more than 50 years.
Walk on… Henry wants Dalglish’s replacement to deliver a top-four finish
Even as they paid tribute to Dalglish, co-owners Henry and Werner revealed it was the failure to come remotely close to delivering a top four finish that ultimately cost the Anfield icon his job.
“Kenny will always be more than a championship winning manager, more than a championship winning star player (but) our job is to identify and recruit the right person to take this club forward,” Henry explained.
That process gets underway immediately, with bookmakers installing Roberto Martinez and former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez – who still lives in the area – as the two overwhelming favourites for the vacant position.
But the owners have made clear they will not be rushed into any hasty decisions in finding the right man to take them towards the top four challenge they consider is the minimum requirement for next season.
They are admirers of Andre Villas-Boas and considered him a credible candidate when they sacked Roy Hodgson in January 2010.
Mersey dash? AVB was in the frame before Liverpool brought back Dalglish
And Marseille boss Didier Deschamps, a Champions League finalist as player and manager, has also been on the radar for some time.
For the moment though, the owners must deal with the widespread anger from fans and particularly former players, who were left incredulous at the news.
Former Liverpool player Terry McDermott, who played with Dalglish at Anfield and was on his coaching staff at Newcastle, was dismayed.
McDermott said: “It’s a big call. I think they’ve pulled the trigger at least six months too early.
“A Liverpool person, or a person who knows about football, would have kept Kenny at least until Christmas, but people who don’t know as much about football maybe came to this decision.
“To do it now, I think, is the wrong thing.
“The league position was not good enough. That would have been rectified next year. I’m sure the players he brought in would have blossomed next year.
“It does take a bit of time at a big, massive club, to bed in. It took me two years myself, it took Ray Kennedy two years… the same with the players he brought in too.
“They are good players and they obviously haven’t performed at the level they’re expected to but I’m convinced next season would have been a better season.”
There was criticism in many quarters for the treatment of Dalglish, but not from the man himself.
He departed for a holiday on Wednesday, insisted he had been treated fairly by the owners.
“Whilst I am obviously disappointed to be leaving the football club, I can say that the matter has been handled by the owners and all concerned in an honourable, respectful and dignified way and reflects on the quality of the people involved,” he said.
Fulham boss Martin Jol is poised to win the £3.5million race for Huddersfield hot- shot Jordan Rhodes – the country’s top scorer.
Jol wants a new striker and is set to outbid his rivals for 22-year-old Rhodes, who has so far rattled in 40 goals for the League One club in a sensational campaign.
Rhodes stuck by the Terriers in January, despite interest from West Ham and Everton, and his goals have taken them to the promotion play-off final.
However, Rhodes is set to make his last Huddersfield appearance at Wembley on Saturday week against Sheffield United, with Premier League football and a lucrative deal on offer at Craven Cottage.
Hammers, Norwich and Aston Villa are also keen, but insiders reveal that Fulham are firm favourites – with Jol likely to lose Andy Johnson and possibly others in the summer.
Rhodes has demonstrated his quality at a lower level, starred on the U-21 stage and won his first senior cap for his adopted Scotland.
Huddersfield have resisted offers for Rhodes in the past, but he is heading for a holiday after the Wembley clash – and Fulham are keen to do business fast.
Rio Ferdinand believes Sir Alex Ferguson played a part in him being axed from England’s Euro 2012 squad.
Manchester United manager Ferguson claimed his vastly experienced centre-back could not cope with the demands of playing games in such a short space of time at this summer’s tournament.
England have three games in eight days in the group stage and Ferguson questioned whether Ferdinand’s 33-year-old body would hold up to that punishing schedule, given his injury history.
Ferdinand was abroad with his family on Wednesday night as he tried to come to terms with missing out on Euro 2012 and the bitter end of his England career after 81 caps.
Before flying out of the UK, the player revealed his disappointment when he tweeted: “Absolutely loved playing for England….to say I’m gutted is an understatement of the highest order.”
But it was Ferguson’s pointed comments regarding Ferdinand’s fitness, ahead of the squad being announced, that are said to have angered the crestfallen United defender.
Persuasive? Did Alex Ferguson make up Hodgson’s mind on Ferdinand?
“You play something like a game every four days at the Euros and Rio couldn’t do that,” said Ferguson, who had previously talked up Ferdinand’s chances of going to Euro 2012.
On May 3, Ferguson talked of how vital Ferdinand’s “experience” would be for England, only to change his tune eight days later by casting doubts over his fitness.
Ferdinand is understood to have been unhappy with Ferguson’s comments, believing they may ultimately have persuaded England boss Roy Hodgson to leave him out.
Hodgson claimed Ferdinand was left out of his 23-man squad for purely football reasons and not because of concerns over the 33-year-old central defender’s fitness.
But those close to Ferdinand believe Ferguson’s remarks, as well as a conversation between the United boss and Hodgson over the player’s fitness, helped seal his fate.
A source close to Ferdinand said: “I don’t think Ferguson’s comments did Rio any favours at all.”
Hodgson, who confirmed his squad on Wednesday, insisted Ferdinand had not been left out because of the impending race row case involving his brother Anton and John Terry.
“I selected John Terry for footballing reasons and left out Rio Ferdinand for footballing reasons,” said Hodgson.
“I had to decide on the basis of what I have seen over the last few months. Rio has only played once for England in the last year and three times since 2010
“Rio has done exceptionally well this year, has played lots of games through injury and has sometimes played three times in a week.
“I would be lying if I said that was the major reason for not selecting him, it was purely on other footballing decisions.”
Ferdinand, who went to three World Cups with England but who has never played at a European Championship, is said to be considering his international future.
He is out of contract with United at the end of next season and so far no talks have been scheduled with his representatives to discuss a new deal.
Robin van Persie has expressed his frustration to Arsenal and given a clear hint that he is ready to quit.
Van Persie held crunch talks about his future with Gunners manager Arsene Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis on Wednesday – and made it plain that he is fed-up with not winning trophies.
It comes as Manchester City move into pole position in the battle for his services.
The new Premier League champions are desperate to lure Van Persie north and are ready to put together a £25million deal and £250,000-a-week contract.
Wenger faces the fight of his life to try to convince Van Persie to stay.
The Dutch striker wants assurances on whether Arsenal will be able to compete next season, and has major doubts whether they can.
Italian giants Juventus remain keen and have put together a lucrative package which includes a £25m transfer fee and £180,000-a-week contract.
Manchester United are also keen and willing to match City’s package.
It is believed Juve director Beppe Marotta has met with Van Persie’s representatives, but the Italian champions fear he is keen on joining City.
Van Persie has seen his former Gunners team-mates Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri win the title this season after quitting the Emirates for City last summer.
It would be heartbreaking for Arsenal fans to see him follow suit and the club are determined not to give up.
They have put together a three year deal worth £130,000-a-week, and featuring a big signing-on fee, to try to persuade him to stay.
Wenger has tried to sell the vision of the club challenging for trophies to Van Persie, with him as captain and the main man – and the chance to become a legend.
Arsenal have already signed Lukas Podolski for £9.7m from Cologne and others are likely to follow .
However, Van Persie is desperate for stellar signings to help them win trophies, having voiced similar concerns to Wenger last summer.
Arsenal were staying tight-lipped on Wednesday night but they are prepared to hold the player to the final year of his contract.
It is unlikely anything will now be agreed before the Euros next month, and the stand-off will only give encouragement to City and Juventus.
* ARSENAL misfit Carlos Vela is a £3million target for Espanyol.
The Mexican forward Vela, 23, had been on loan at Real Sociedad but they could not afford to buy him on a permanent basis.
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