Arsenal Transfer Rumours: Gunners Can Only Win from January Move for Luis Suarez

The Luis Suarez transfer saga looks set to prove every bit as belligerent as the player himself, after the Daily Mirror’s John Cross reported that Arsenal are planning a January bid.

Liverpool thought they had fended off the Gunners after the summer transfer window closed with Suarez still wearing Merseyside red. However, Cross brings news that Arsenal’s interest will peak again at the turn of the year:

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Arsene Wenger will be given the green light to make another "mega signing" in January.

Arsenal tried for, but failed to, land Liverpool's Luis Suarez in the summer, and they will keep tabs on his situation to see whether there is any softening in the Kop's stance of not selling their Uruguayan star to a club they see as a rival for a top-four finish.

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Jack Wilson of the Daily Star supports Cross’s article, but adds Liverpool will attempt to cement Suarez’s future before the January window arrives:

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Liverpool chiefs are now understood to be trying to agree a new contract with the 26-year-old to stop Arsenal and Real Madrid from trying to swoop.

Brendan Rodgers does not want to sell his prized asset, let alone to a top-four rival.

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The situation is a win-win for Wenger, regardless of whether Suarez eventually makes the switch to the Emirates later this season.

An ideal outcome for the French boss would be the capture of one of the world’s leading forwards, scorer of 30 goals in all competitions for Liverpool last term and a nightmare for defences across the country.

The other scenario is Arsenal miss out on a huge talent but unsettle the star man of one of their major top-four rivals during the busiest period of the campaign.

If Suarez proves as difficult to handle during the winter window as he did the summer, a renewed Arsenal approach would see the player banished from first-team training, accusing the manager of a lack of honesty.

Liverpool’s start to the season has been based on a team ethic and unity, displayed best by the out-of-favour Martin Skrtel, who came in from the cold to produce a Man-of-the-Match display against Manchester United.

A mid-season Suarez saga, which would see Rodgers forced to tackle daily questions and headlines about the Uruguayan for the December and January months, would only benefit Arsenal.

And if the Gunners actually did sign Suarez, even if it’s for the same £42 million fee splashed out on Mesut Ozil, the deal would be worth it. Liverpool’s troubled talisman is a master at running in behind defences—exactly the type of player Ozil loves to find.

The baggage that comes with Suarez—the biting, the controversial comments, the alleged playacting—will always divide fans and experts, but Arsenal currently only have Olivier Giroud as a genuine striker.

If there is a flaw to Giroud’s game, it is his lack of pace and ability to go past a man—exactly the traits that make Suarez so dangerous. The Uruguayan would give Wenger something totally different and would, on paper at least, even pair well with Giroud in a front two.

Liverpool travel to Arsenal on Nov. 2, which would seem the right time for the Gunners to breathe new life into this saga, and by the Feb. 8 return match at Anfield, Wenger will hope—one way or another—to have significantly unsettled his managerial counterpart.