In latest twist in Luis Suárez drama, Liverpool’s American owner says he will not leave

A number of English-based media sources are reporting that Liverpool owner John Henry called the prospect of selling Luis Suárez to Arsenal “ludicrous.” Henry reportedly said that Suárez must accept the fact that he will be at Anfield this year.

In the meantime, Suárez has been forced to train alone at Liverpool’s training ground as punishment for publicly criticizing the club for not selling him.

(MORE: Free Luis Suarez! The Liverpool man has spoken, and he wants that move to Arsenal)

Henry said (from The Daily Telegraph of London):

We are not going to sell Luis. It’s a football reason. It’s not finances. At this point, so late in window, with everyone who’s already moved or isn’t moving, we do not have time to replace him. So for football reasons we can’t – and especially to Arsenal. We’ve made that clear. I have said to [Arsenal chief executive] Ivan Gazidis in a personal conversation that we will not sell to Arsenal. It is unequivocal, but that doesn’t seem to slow them down so I can’t wait to see what the next bid is. We’re not in Europe this year and have not been in the Champions League for a while. To sell to a rival for those Champions League positions, or one of them, would be ludicrous. Whatever the bid is, we won’t sell him. We need Luis. Hopefully this will pass.

So it seems Liverpool would rather keep an insubordinate Suárez against his will rather than sell him to a rival club. The transfer window closes Sept. 2, but Suárez’s 10-game suspension for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic still has six games left on it.

Liverpool fans have remained supportive throughout Suárez’s bid to leave the club, cheering him loudly at an opening training session on Monday, but he was slow to acknowledge it. At some point soon, their patience may run out, unless Suárez and the club can put this ordeal behind them.

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