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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard says he is confident that Uruguay striker Luis Suarez will not be sold to Arsenal this summer.

Gerrard said he could not guarantee Gunners target Suarez, 26, would still be at Anfield when the transfer window closed, but added he was sure he would not be going to another English club.

"I don't know what is going to happen over the next few weeks," said Gerrard.

"But I am really confident he won't be going to anyone else in England."

Suarez has excelled since joining Liverpool from Ajax for £22.7m, scoring 51 goals in 96 appearances.

However, has been training alone since trying to engineer a move this summer, with Arsenal having had a bid of just over £40m turned down.

Gerrard could not escape one of the transfer sagas of the summer, despite speaking on the eve of England's first match against Scotland in 14 years.

But he said he would do all he can to prevent Suarez from leaving the club.

"He is one of the best players in the world, so I can understand why clubs are showing an interest in him," he said. "If I can use my influence to try to make him stay, of course I will do that.

"I enjoy playing with him and I don't want him to go. For Liverpool to be successful and to keep moving forward, we need to keep our best players."

When Gerrard was asked how he saw the situation panning out, he said: "At the moment? I haven't got a clue."

Gerrard went on to add that, in his view, the Premier League transfer window should be closed before the season starts in order to prevent clubs being unsettled by long-running transfer sagas during the season.

This season's deadline is on Monday, 2 September - over two weeks after the opening round of fixtures.