Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard held talks with Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez in the January transfer window but a Premier League return was never likely, as reported by The Athletic.
For a time, it seemed that Philippe Coutinho wouldn’t be the most high-profile January signing on his way to Villa Park.
And while some may have dismissed links with 35-year-old Suarez as little more than idle paper talk – a classic case of speculation-sifting reporters putting two-and-two together and getting 16 – it seems that there was at least a shred of truth in claims linking Aston Villa with one of the 21st Century’s most ruthless marksmen.
According to The Athletic, Gerrard ‘discussed plans’ with Suarez at some point in the window.
That is as far as things went. But the slightest suggestion that Aston Villa may appeal to a player of Suarez’s ilk and experience highlights the pulling-power that a manager like Gerrard possesses.
Remember, it was he – the Liverpool legend – who convinced Coutinho to swap the Barcelona bench for Bodymoor Heath. The Athletic points out that, if Gerrard was not the Villa boss, ‘Coutinho wouldn’t have even considered’ joining Aston Villa on loan with a £33 million option-to-buy clause in his contract.
How close did Aston Villa come to signing Luis Suarez?
Coutinho, during his time alongside Gerrard at Liverpool, was a man still learning his trade.
Suarez, however, was already an elite-level goalscorer, a ruthless poacher who fired the Merseyside giants to the brink of Premier League glory in 2013/14.
Gerrard even described the ‘world-class’ Suarez as the best player he had ever played with. ‘By a distance’.
That is some statement, given that Gerrard had shared a dressing room with Wayne Rooney, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Frank Lampard, John Terry and more.
The former Rangers boss would add with a week of the window remaining, however, that despite his enduring admiration for the evergreen Suarez, Aston Villa had other priorities than a new centre-forward.
Suarez to Villa was never close to happening. But it’s worth remembering that, just three years ago, this was a club mired in mid-table the division below.
Now, they’re signing Brazil internationals and holding talks with a truly legendary centre-forward.
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