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During his weekly press conference, Arsene Wenger was inevitably asked about Arsenal's cheeky (if you're feeling kind) bid for Luis Suarez over the summer. As you recall, the reaction to the bid was unkind around the footballing blogosphere, and not just among Liverpool fans. Now, even Wenger seems to realize the error in his club's ways, given his comments during the chat.
"It was not the most subtle thing we have ever done," Wenger admitted when speaking of Arsenal's attempt to trigger what turned out to be a non-existent release clause in Suarez's contract. Really, Arsene? Really? Not subtle? You think? Forty million plus another quid "isn't subtle"? Why, I never would have noticed that if you hadn't mentioned it!
"It was not meant to be provocative at all - it could be interpreted like that, but it was not our purpose," Wenger went on. "Did he want to join us? I do not want to dwell any more on that situation - it was one of the transfers that did not work. He is a professional, he plays for Liverpool, he is paid by them."
Arsene really is one for "keine Scheiße" statements, isn't he?
Fortunately for Liverpool, things worked out in the end; Arsenal were left on egg on their face, Suarez stayed put, and now he and Daniel Sturridge are forming England's best strike partnership. How long that lasts is certainly up for debate, but it's something we can worry about another time. For now, we'll just look forward to Suarez and Sturridge thrashing Arsenal's defense in a few hours.
At least Wenger took the opportunity to poke at Alex Ferguson while he was waxing nostalgic: "[T]he details will maybe come out one day - maybe not in my book, but somebody else’s book!" Guess he's not all that bad, after all.