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Barcelona agreed to have forward Luis Suárez join his La Liga rival, Atlético de Madrid.
Suárez is not wanted at Barça and the Catalans were happy to release him for free, provided he did not join other major clubs.
The Uruguayan agreed to the terms of a reduced salary with Atlético after a change to Juventus fell through due to passport problems.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu blocked the deal because he did not want to sell it to a Spanish rival.
But, after meeting with the representatives of Suárez, the Catalan club has backed down and the forward has threatened to express his complaints to the media.
Atlético will have to pay a nominal fee of no more than 6 million euros for the 33-year-old, which will be based on variables such as qualification for the Champions League.
Suárez will earn half of the 30 million euros per year that he spent at Barça.
The move puts an end to Suarez’s six-year term with Barça, during which he scored 198 goals in 283 appearances and formed a feared front to three with Lionel Messi and Neymar.
On Wednesday night, Barcelona issued a statement thanking Suárez for his time at the club.
“FC Barcelona wants to publicly express its gratitude to Luis Suárez for his commitment and dedication and wishes him all the best for the future,” the statement said.
The club said a “farewell event” for Suarez would be held at 11:30 BST on Thursday before a press conference.
Atlético said that the deal had been agreed “subject to approving his doctor and agreeing and formalizing the Uruguayan’s contract.”
He joined the club for £ 74 million from Liverpool in 2014 and helped them win four La Liga titles, four Copa del Reys and the Champions League and the Club World Cup in 2015.
It also ends one of this summer’s long-running transfer sagas, which seemed likely to result in the player ending up in Turin, a move that was thwarted, according to Juventus directors, due to the amount of time spent. it would have taken to secure Suárez an Italian passport.
