[ad_1]
Luis Suárez says he was determined to leave Barcelona with his “head held high” last summer after the club “disrespected him” before his move to Atlético de Madrid.
The Uruguayan striker left Camp Nou under difficult circumstances in September as Barcelona’s second all-time top scorer, having scored 198 goals since signing from Liverpool in 2014.
Suárez, 34, had one more year to fulfill the contract he signed with Barcelona in 2016, but the new head coach, Ronald Koeman, told him it was not part of his plans.
Since then, the forward has scored 14 goals for Atlético de Madrid after moving to the Spanish capital for £ 5.5 million, with Diego Simeone’s team 10 points clear at the top of La Liga.
The former Liverpool striker says he turned down the opportunity to stay out of Barca’s preseason while his move came to an end and did not speak to now-former president Josep Maria Bartomeu about his departure.
“It was difficult because of the way they disrespected me, but I wanted my children to see me leave the club with my head held high.
“When it came time to tell my children about the move, it was very difficult. Now they are older and they felt that there was going to be a change, ”Suárez told Onda Cero.
He added: “There were very tough moments around my departure from Barcelona. There were rumors that were finally confirmed and that’s what hurt me the most ”.
“Koeman called me and said it was not in his plans. I accepted the decision, but told him that I had a contract and that the club would have to fix it. They gave me the option of not showing up for preseason, but I said I was still under contract and that I was going to show up.
“No one explained it to me correctly. I couldn’t speak to Bartomeu. My attorney took care of that.
The forward admitted that his move was very necessary to protect his pride.
“Seeing how Barcelona is doing reassures me in some way. I could have stayed and got paid, but I still believed in my ability. I knew if I stayed I’d be programmed the moment there was a hint of bad form. I needed a change for my pride.
“The first thing I said regarding the negotiations with Atlético was that I didn’t want to do anything until I left Barcelona. There was a lot of talk about Juventus, but many clubs were interested. I went ahead with my Italian passport because it was something I had been doing for a year. “
Suarez also spoke about his close relationship with Lionel Messi and was upset to see the details of his former teammate’s contract leaking to the Spanish press.
“I arrived [at Barcelona] one day and began to have mate [traditional South American drink] with Messi. We established a great relationship and became a family. Our wives started having a fantastic relationship, which also helped strengthen our own wonderful connection, ”he said.
“I do not understand how someone can be so evil as to make something as private as Leo’s contract public, considering everything Messi has done. No footballer has ever given so much to a club.
“Only four or five people could have known about the contract, but I have no idea who it could have been. I spoke with Messi two years ago about how it was getting more and more difficult for us and that maybe we couldn’t withdraw the way we wanted. “
Suarez also dismissed suggestions of a strained relationship with Antoine Griezmann, who joined Barcelona in the summer of 2019.
“We had a good relationship with Griezmann at the beginning,” he said. “We were open with him and we met away from football. You can’t go out and deny everything because it would drive you crazy ”.
