The Gunners met the Uruguayan’s reported £40 million release clause, but the bid was rejected by the Reds.
And Suarez has revealed that the Liverpool skipper also talked him out of moving to another Premier League club.
“It would have been a big error that I would have made had it not been for Steven Gerrard,” the 27-year-old is quoted as saying by ESPN FC.
“We spoke about this when I went to Melwood [Liverpool's training ground] to pick up my things at the end of the summer and he said: ‘You did the right thing, you waited until the best moment.’
“He had told me [the previous summer] to play well for Liverpool, give it another year and it will be Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona coming for you and then you can go where you want, because you have the quality to play at any of those three clubs.”
A move to Arsenal never materialised and Suarez went on to score 31 goals last season as he helped Liverpool to a second-place finish.
As a result, Suarez got his dream move to Barcelona shortly after the World Cup – and his bite on Giorgio Chiellini – completing a £75 million transfer in July.