Arsene Wenger delivers verdict on his attempts to sign Luis Suarez for Arsenal

ARSENE WENGER admits to having had 40 million and one regrets at not landing Luis Suarez in the summer of 2013 but insists he is over them now.

Arsene WengerGETTY

Arsene Wenger insists he is over his regrets of failing to bring Luis Suarez to Arsenal in 2013

However, that does not mean he has failed to recognise it is the controversial Uruguay international who is the true pivot of Barcelona's fearsome three-pronged attack that are heading towards the Emirates tomorrow night.

The Arsenal boss thought that he hand landed Suarez from Liverpool in 2013 when he believed his famously precise bid for the player had triggered a release clause in his contract. Instead it was Barcelona who prised him away from Anfield 12 months later to set up residence alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar.

It is Messi who has continued to land individual honour after individual honour while Neymar is being talked about excitedly as his successor to the mantle of the world's greatest player.

But Wenger feels that Suarez glues the three of them together and, after failing to break down Hull in the FA Cup fifth-round goalless draw on Saturday, admitted he often used to ponder about how things might have been if he had landed Suarez after all.

"Do I wonder 'what if?' It happened to me before but not now," said Wenger. "He's a player there and we have to keep him quiet on Tuesday night. Individually all their players are difficult to stop. We have to find a way to do it collectively."

Wenger has studied Barcelona closely and was particularly impressed by a moment in the 6-1 win against Celta Vigo when Messi passed up the chance to claim a personal landmark to gift-wrap Suarez his hat-trick.

"I believe that apart from the individual talent the three have, they have a good understanding and cohesion," he said. "They have a great solidarity. I have seen that Cristiano Ronaldo said that Messi gave the ball to Suarez because he wanted him to be the best goalscorer.

"When you see someone like Messi, who could score his 300th goal, give the ball to Suarez when he had the opportunity to score goal 300 that means there's really something in there.

Luis Suarez - Spotlight On

"That thing is camaraderie. I believe Suarez gives that to a team. He did it at Liverpool, he did it playing with Cavani and Forlan and did it well. Suarez is the kind of guy who manages to create that spirit in teams.

"And it looks like they have fun together. They don't look to play under any pressure because they know at the moment it's easy for them."

Arsenal certainly made hard work of trying to beat Championship leaders Hull - thwarted in part by a reserve team goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic. It was a performance to raise hopes of that, although he was quickly brought down to earth when he sought out his four-year-old daughter in the stands for a kiss afterwards.

"She was mostly on the iPad during the game," he said. "She is still small and asked me when I gave her a kiss, 'Daddy, when do we go home?'"

ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Chambers, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gibbs; Flamini, Elneny; Campbell (Giroud 67), Iwobi (Oxlade-Chamberlain 73), Welbeck (Sanchez 67); Walcott. Booked: Chambers, Koscielny.

HULL (3-5-1-1): Jakupovic; Davies, Maguire, Bruce; Elmohamady, Maloney, Meyler, Taylor (Huddlestone 56), Tymon (Odubajo 56); Powell; Diomande. Booked: Maloney, Maguire.

Referee: M Dean (Wirral).

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