PFA chief executive says Luis Suarez does not have release clause

Luis Suarez does not have a release clause, according to PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor. In an interview with the Guardian, the Liverpool striker claimed that the club were required to sell him if a bid of £40 million came in, which did when Arsenal bid £40,000,001, but that is apparently not the case.

"It does not say the club has to sell," Taylor told Jamie Jackson. "I can't say it is cast-iron buy-out clause"

Suarez also said that the club made a promise to him last summer that if Liverpool did not make the Champions League that they would sell him, but even if it is true, that is not legally enforceable.

"It does not say the club has to sell," Taylor explained to Tony Barret. "It quite clearly states £40 million is a minimum offer for discussions."

Assuming Taylor is correct, and there is no reason to believe the head of the Professional Footballers' Association wouldn't be, Liverpool is under no obligation to sell Suarez. The striker clearly wants to leave Anfield and maybe the club did promise him a move -- a promise they would now be reneging on -- but he is still contracted to Liverpool without a release clause to trigger an exit.

It remains to be seen whether Suarez is willing to sit out of preseason to get his wish of a move to a Champions League club. He missed a short time earlier in the preseason, but has since returned to training and has not indicated that he would be willing to force a move through by any manner other than enforcing a release clause that Taylor insists is not in his contract.

Arsenal, the most publicized suitor for Suarez has not commented on the release clause Suarez believed he had, his insistence that Liverpool promised him he could leave or anything else related to the striker in recent weeks. The Gunners have still yet to spend any money in the transfer window, something that has angered their fans. Buying Suarez would assuage their concerns, and more importantly, it would strengthen a team that desperately needs to get better heading into another Champions League campaign and a fight for a top-four spot in the Premier League that appears to be fiercer than ever.

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