Wenger: Suarez 'wanted to join us' in 2013

Arsene Wenger claims an agreement was in place for Luis Suarez to join Arsenal from Liverpool in 2013, and is convinced that the Uruguayan was keen on switching Merseyside for north London.

In a bid to add some bite to its strikeforce, Arsenal infamously submitted an offer worth a cheeky £1 over his £40-million release clause - an approach which soured relations between the two teams and began to unsettle a forward who had tallied 23 Premier League goals in the previous season.

Liverpool somehow wriggled out of the suspected release clause, and Suarez agreed fresh terms at Anfield in December before joining Barcelona the next summer for around £65 million.

"It was very close, we had an agreement with the player," Wenger said in an interview with beIN Sports. "We had been wrongly advised that he had a clause, you know, with a minimum (fee). But we had an agreement with the player. You can ask him.

"I'm convinced that he wanted to join us. And then they kept him for one more year, they improved his contract and promised to sell him a year later to a club abroad."

Suarez then put himself in the shop window in sensational fashion by scoring 31 goals in 33 top-flight appearances as Liverpool narrowly missed out on the title to Manchester City. He was bestowed with the Premier League's Player of the Year honour before completing his transfer to Barcelona.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Wenger says that the controversies that blighted Suarez's career have abated since his Catalonia move. Previously a hate figure in world football after deliberately handling a ball on the line in the 2010 World Cup, nibbling both Branislav Ivanovic and Giorgio Chiellini, and racially abusing then-Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, Suarez has appeared to concentrate on improving his game alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar at club level.

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Last season was his most productive, as he banged in 40 strikes over just 35 La Liga outings, but he was still subject to criticism after Barcelona's recent comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain saw Suarez theatrically go down in the area to win a penalty for the Blaugrana.

"He had some behaviours that were shocking, but you don't see them anymore since two or three years," Wenger said. "He got rid of all the things that were a handicap for him. And today you don't see that anymore.

"He is still on the borderline with what a striker does well, like go down in the penalty box. But you want that from an intelligent striker, to provoke. But I think he got rid of all the rest."