Liverpool's Luis Suárez broke his silence on Tuesday night, telling the Guardian that he wants to leave the club and that he was promised he could do so if they failed to qualify for the Champions League at the end of last season. The striker, who joined the club in January 2011, says he wants to play in Europe's top competition next season – "I'm 26. I need to be playing in the Champions League. I waited one year and no one can say that I did not give everything possible with my team-mates last season to get us there" – but what are his options now?

Several clubs have already secured their top attacking targets and others would struggle to meet the transfer fee and the players' wage demands. A look at 15 possible destinations makes for depressing reading (for Suárez at least) with only a few clubs – maximum four – in a position to sign the player.

Arsenal

The only club that have made an offer (two actually) for the Uruguayan, the second bid of £40m plus £1 irritating the Liverpool hierarchy, with Brendan Rodgers saying that the Gunners had lacked class over their approach to buy the striker. "My priority is Champions League football. This is about me doing what is right for my career at this moment in time," Suárez said on Monday night and added that he would not mind playing in England "for many more years". Arsenal are the favourites to sign the Uruguayan – although they could still be knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifiers – but will they meet Liverpool's demands? History suggests not and the London club held back when push came to shove in the pursuit of Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuaín, who joined Napoli for £32m.

Chelsea

José Mourinho has so far – publicly at least – targeted Wayne Rooney but, with United turning down a second bid for the England striker over the weekend, thought to be almost £30m with add-ons included, it is not impossible that the Portuguese could switch his attentions to Suárez. What would be better value, Rooney for £35m or Suárez for £50m? Most people would say the Uruguayan, despite all the baggage. Chelsea are in need of another option up front with Fernando Torres still struggling for form and Romelu Lukaku inexperienced when it comes to leading the line at a top club. Demba Ba is also there, of course, but it would be a surprise if Mourinho did not add to his forward line.

The Manchester clubs

No and no. Manchester City had a clear strategy this summer and their new manager, Manuel Pellegrini, secured the signings he and the club wanted early, learning from last summer's mistakes. They have bought cleverly and the captures of Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina) and Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla) ensure that Suárez will not be a City player next season. City, in addition, already had Sergio Agüero and Edin Dzeko at the club. United, meanwhile, could potentially go for Suárez if they sold Rooney but signing the Uruguayan would go against their current transfer policy and it is unthinkable that Liverpool would sell to their most bitter rivals.

Real Madrid

Probably the club that can offer Suárez most hope of playing Champions League football next season, together with Arsenal. Everything depends on the Gareth Bale deal, though, and the feeling is that Real and Carlo Ancelotti have decided that the Tottenham Hotspur forward is their man this summer. Real normally get what they want in the transfer market – apart from Neymar – and only if the Bale deal collapses will they turn to Suárez. Liverpool would rather sell to Spain than to Arsenal, though, that is for sure.

Barcelona

Barcelona, too, did their shopping early and brought in Neymar from Santos for a reported €57m (£48.6m) and with Lionel Messi, Pedro Rodríguez and Alexis Sánchez already at the club that means that the road to Catalonia is closed for Suárez (this summer at least). As for Spain's other Champions League participants, Atlético Madrid and Real Sociedad, they cannot afford the Liverpool striker. Atlético could potentially spend most of the Radamel Falcao money on Suárez but that is unlikely as they have already signed David Villa from Barcelona and, although the fee was far from astronomical, his wages are not insignificant.

Bayern Munich

The European champions were linked with a move for Suárez earlier in the summer but the club chairman, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, said this week that they had finished their transfer business for the summer. "We will not make any more signings. The team looks exactly as we want it right now," he told Bild. "We brought in Götze as we believe he is the biggest talent in Germany and Europe in his age group, as well as Thiago [Alcântara]." Bayern appear to be a little short up front, with Mario Gomez having joined Fiorentina, but playing with one forward, or none for that matter, has not been a problem for Pep Guardiola before.

Borussia Dortmund

The second best team in Europe are not going for Suárez either. It is simply not their policy to buy players at the top end of the market. They buy cheap and sell expensively (or don't sell at all as the Robert Lewandowski case shows) with Shinji Kagawa the prime example. He joined for €350,000 in 2010 and joined Manchester United two years later for £17m.

Paris St-Germain

The Parisians certainly have the financial clout to sign Suárez but they, like Manchester City, appear to have finished their shopping for the summer, at least when it comes to attack-minded players. Their forward line is already, arguably, the strongest in Europe – if not the world – with Edinson Cavani having joined Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ezequiel Lavezzi in an expensive and star-studded line-up. Add the fact that Lucas Moura and Javier Pastore will contribute with goals from attacking positions in midfield and it is clear that Suárez is not heading for Paris.

Monaco

The French Ligue 1 newcomers should not even be an option for Suárez as he has stated Champions League football as the reason for leaving Liverpool – and Monaco cannot offer that this coming season (as Tottenham cannot, for example). They have the financial clout to sign him, though, and have already secured the services of Radamel Falcao from Atlético Madrid for a club record £53m. The rest of the strike force is comparatively low-key compared with their marquee signing – who scored a remarkable 52 league goals in 67 games during the past two seasons for Atlético – and it is not wholly implausible that the club's Russian billionaire owner, Dmitry Rybolovlev, opens his wallet again. But it is highly, highly unlikely.

The Milan clubs

No chance. They simply do not have the financial power to compete with the rest of the top clubs at the moment. Milan have been a selling club for a while now – when it comes to the big names – with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's and Thiago Silva's move to PSG last summer a clear indication of where they are at the moment. Inter are arguably in a worse position than their city rivals with the owner, Massimo Moratti, saying this week that investment from the Indonesian tycoon Erick Thohir may be necessary to ensure that the club can continue to compete at the highest level. Juventus, equally, is not an option for Suárez as their budget, too, is restricted and the Italian champions have already brought in Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente.

Napoli

Rafael Benitéz's new club have money to spend after that extraordinary transfer of Edinson Cavani to PSG for a reported £55m but more than half of that (£32m) has been spent on Higuaín while the Spanish manager has also brought in Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid, £10.6m), Dries Martens (PSV, £8.5m) and José María Callejón (Real, £8.4m). There will be no more major signings arriving at the Stadio San Paolo this summer.

Galatasaray

The Turkish club could conceivably have been an option for Suárez as they showed with the signings of Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder in January that they are not afraid to make marquee signings. "Big clubs can only reach their goals by signing high-profile players," the club president, Unal Aysal, said at the time. But to think that their budget would stretch to a £50m transfer fee plus the players' wages would be fanciful to say the least.

Anzhi Makhachkala

Only a few weeks ago the Dagestan club would have been on a list of clubs who could afford to sign Suárez but this week the owner, Suleiman Kerimov, seems to have given up on his grand project and they are reportedly willing to off-load most of their high-profile stars, including Samuel Eto'o and Lassana Diarra. In addition the former Manchester United coach René Meulensteen is reportedly about to get the sack, only two weeks after joining the club, and be replaced by Gadzhi Gadzhiyev.