bit Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup, according to
former Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre.
Suarez was handed a four-month ban from football by
FIFA after being found guilty of biting the Italy centre-
back during their 1-0 defeat to Uruguay.
The striker completed a transfer to Barca for a reported
fee of €82million in July that year but Ayre says the
Catalans wanted Liverpool to lower their asking price as a
result of the Chiellini incident.
"The hardest one out has to be Suarez, because a)
nobody wanted him to leave and b) halfway through the
process he bit somebody at the World Cup!" Ayre said
during a lecture at Liverpool John Moores University.
"I remember the sporting director of Barcelona calling me
during that game, immediately as Suarez bit the player,
and he said to me 'my friend, he's bitten somebody, how
can this be the price?' I said 'he'd already bitten
somebody when you first bid!"
It was widely reported at the time that Liverpool wanted
Alexis Sanchez to move to Anfield as part of the Suarez
deal but Ayre says the Chile star had his heart set on a
move to London.
"The thing to understand is that you are never actually in
complete control of who you buy and sell as a club," he
said.
"There was much-publicised interest in Alexis Sanchez, as
part of the deal which saw Luis go to Barcelona, and that
deal was done. The only reason it wasn't was that the
player and his wife wanted to live in London.
"We couldn't move the football club to London,
unfortunately!"
Ayre also revealed that Liverpool turned down the chance
to sign Dele Alli when the Tottenham midfielder was a
teenager at MK Dons.
The 54-year-old says Alli's demands put Liverpool off
making him an offer, with the England international later
joining Spurs in February 2015.
"There was interest in the player, but where it got to was
that the demands at that time were not fitting to what he
had achieved at that point," he added.
"We didn't feel the player matched that demand. It's easy
to sit and say 'look what you could have bought', but how
many players could you apply the reverse of that to?
That's the truth."
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