Liverpool owner John Henry has confirmed that Luis Suarez did have a £40m buyout clause in his last contract.

Arsenal made a bid of £40,000,001 for the 27-year-old striker last summer, but that was turned down, and the Uruguay international subsequently went on to sign a new deal with the Reds.

"Luis Suarez is the top scorer in the English Premier League, which is arguably the top soccer league in the world," the Daily Mail quotes Henry as saying. "And he had a buyout clause - I don't know what degree I should go into this - but he had a buyout clause of £40m - more than $60m.

"So Arsenal, one of our prime rivals this year - they offered £40m and one pound for him and triggered his buyout clause. But what we've found over the years is that contracts don't seem to mean a lot in England - actually not in England, in world football. It doesn't matter how long a player's contract is, he can decide he's leaving.

"We sold Fernando Torres [to Chelsea] for £50m. We didn't want to sell but we were forced to. For the first time [with Suarez] we took the position that we weren't selling. Since apparently these contracts don't seem to hold, we took the position we're just not selling and it's been great for Luis, it's been great for us, and what will happen at the end of year."

Suarez has scored 24 goals in 23 Premier League appearances so far this season.