Liverpool owner John W Henry admits Luis Suarez did have a buyout clause in his previous contract. The Reds rejected an improved offer of £40million plus £1 from Arsenal after insisting they merely had to inform the Uruguayan of such bids.
Henry, speaking at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, said: "Luis Suarez is the top scorer in the English Premier League, which is arguably the top soccer league in the world.
"He had a buyout clause of £40m. Arsenal, one of our prime rivals - this year we're tied for second - offered £40m plus £1.
"What we've found is that contracts don't seem to mean a lot in England, actually in world football. It doesn't matter how long a player's contract is, he can decide he's leaving.
"We sold a player, Fernando Torres, for £50m, that we did not want to sell, we were forced to.
"Since apparently these contracts don't seem to hold, we took the position that we're just not selling (Suarez).
"It's been great for Luis, it's been great for us, and what will happen at the end of the year, I think we're going to make the Champions League, we have a small chance of winning the Premier League this year."
