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Luis Suárez has told ESPN that he believes Barcelona forced him to leave the club because of his relationship with Lionel Messi.
Suárez, 33, joined Atlético de Madrid last month and became Barça’s third all-time top scorer with 198 goals over a six-year stint at Camp Nou.
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The Uruguayan forward’s departure was sold as a cost-cutting measure, as Barça sought to reduce its salary spending to minimize the financial damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“There are many contradictions [in Barcelona’s version of events]”Suarez said Friday on ESPN’s” 90 Minutes. ” I would have looked for a solution if it had been a financial problem and if it had been a sports problem, I could have understood. ”It is not clear to me why they made the decision they did.
“I think they wanted to get me off Messi’s side. Maybe it bothered them that I had a good relationship with Leo. Maybe they didn’t want him to be with me so much. I don’t find any reason to think that it would harm the team, however.
“We were constantly looking for each other on the field, but for the good of the team. Maybe they wanted me to play with more teammates. That could have something to do with it. I can’t find another reason to want to separate us because we get along well on the field.”
Suarez’s departure came at the end of a hectic summer in Barcelona in which Messi had tried to leave the club before but was ultimately prevented from doing so.
“They should have respected his decision to leave,” Suarez said.
Messi’s contract expires in 2021, but despite his desire to leave Barça last month, Suárez believes his former teammate can extend his 20-year stay in Catalonia with a new president who will be elected before the end. the season. Most of Messi’s criticism of the club in the last month has been linked to current president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
“Leo is aware of what it means for Barcelona,” he said. “It has given the club things you could never imagine. It must remain number one, be the best and [being] happy.
“Maybe there is the possibility that he will play for another club, but if he feels comfortable and happy and a new board comes in, he will want to stay at the club. As a friend, I will be happy if things go well for him there.” , but also if he has to go to another club. “
Like Messi, Suárez has also been critical of Bartomeu and the Barça leadership. You feel that you have earned the right to be treated with more respect.
“It really hurt me and my family the way they did it,” he explained. “It was not good. That a coach [Ronald Koeman] He enters and says that he does not count on me when the board of directors had already said that there were going to be big changes, it raises questions. Koeman called me to tell me that I was not in his plans, but he knew what was coming for 10 days. He simply confirmed what he had seen in the media.
“I always said that the club needed a young striker, but they never brought anyone to compete with me. For years, they wanted to bring in more forwards because they wanted to kick me out.
“I had been arriving, but at least I deserved to be called and explained [why they wanted me gone] before getting to know him through the media. “
