Arsenal Transfer News: Luis Suarez Isn't Worth Gareth Bale Money

Brendan Rodgers is going to pull out all of the stops to either keep Luis Suarez or sell him for an extremely high figure as Arsenal continue to come calling. Even if it means the Liverpool manager has to resort to a bit of hyperbole, as he did recently. 

He'll say Liverpool is one of the biggest, most important clubs in the world and no player should want to leave that. He'll publicly overvalue the worth of the player. He'll even insult Arsenal as the Gunners remain in pursuit of the star striker. 

But now, Rodgers has said he feels Suarez's value on the market aligns closely with that of Gareth Bale, who it is rumoured will move to Real Madrid in a £100 million transfer, according to Dean Jones of the Mirror.

And that just isn't true.

Here are Rodgers' comments, via Simon Mullock of the Mirror:

"

Every single player in the world has a valuation. But I spoke to our owners again last night and they know what we are trying to do here. 

Gareth Bale has been valued in nine figures. Now I thought Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez were the two best players in the Premier League last season. You can’t say that Gareth Bale is worth 100 percent more than Luis Suarez.

There does come a point, of course. We only want players who are 100 percent committed here. There is no change in the situation. Despite all the speculation we have had, there has only been two bids from one club—and they have been nowhere near the valuation of a top, top player.

I have spoken to Luis a number of times over the summer and the more he is around the group and the supporters the more he will understand this club. This is truly one of the biggest clubs in world football. No-one would want to leave here in a hurry.

"

Arsenal supposedly have put in a bid of £40 million plus £1, per Mullock's report, which seems like a pretty aggressive, high bid. But Liverpool have long thought to want at least £50 million in a Suarez deal, a very high figure. 

Still, even that number is somewhat understandable. Suarez scored 23 goals and added five assists in 33 Premier League games last season. He's 26 years old and in his prime. Without him, Liverpool will be losing their key attacker. 

But why in the world would Arsenal ever pay Bale money for Suarez? It's a pretty ridiculous proposition. 

For one thing, Bale's rumoured transfer fee is absurd. Absolutely absurd. For as good as Bale is—and he is really, really talented—he isn't worth a world-record transfer fee. He's not as good as Cristiano Ronaldo was when he made the move from Manchester United to Real Madrid, but he'll certainly cost more. 

So right there, Rodgers' logic takes a hit. Bale isn't worth 100 percent more than Suarez, but Bale is being dramatically overpriced. Rodgers shouldn't expect that any team—and by any team, we're obviously talking about just Arsenal at this point—will overvalue Suarez by the same degree. 

For another, Bale is younger and hasn't even peaked as a player yet. Bale just turned 24, and in theory should have seven or eight more seasons of elite football left in his career. That by itself makes him more valuable than Suarez. 

Plus, Bale is the better player, let's be honest. He scored 21 goals in 34 appearances for Tottenham last season, but did so from out wide, not as a central striker like Suarez. He's a free-kick maestro and has the pace and size to make him a beast on the ball from the wing. 

And Bale doesn't come with a history of transgressions. Bale won't be suspended to start next season. Bale hasn't bit an opposing player or been guilty of racially abusing an opponent. There is no controversy that accompanies Bale. 

It's easy to see what Rodgers is doing. Desperate to keep his player or earn a huge transfer fee, he's literally pulling out all the stops in order to gain leverage over Arsenal. And on one hand, Liverpool should hold all the leverage here, as Suarez has several seasons left on his contract and Liverpool don't have to sell. 

But on the other hand, having an unhappy star on the team could become a toxic situation this season. It's clear Suarez is done with Liverpool, and his continued presence with the club has the potential to become a distraction. Plus, with Real Madrid looking poised to sign Bale this summer, it's not as though Liverpool has a bidding war on its hands. 

That's a bit of leverage in Arsenal's hands, in other words. 

Suarez's value will never be higher than it is this summer, and Liverpool should try to squeeze out every penny they can get for him this summer. But expecting to get anywhere close to Bale money from the Gunners, well, it's just absurd.