The news football fans have been widely expecting has now been confirmed: Luis Suarez is a Barcelona player. Barcelona have reportedly paid Liverpool £
The news football fans have been widely expecting has now been confirmed: Luis Suarez is a Barcelona player. Barcelona have reportedly paid Liverpool £75 million for the controversial striker, who will miss the start of the season due to a 4 month ban for the third biting incident of his career. The striker is also prevented from entering any football stadium, ruling out the usual presentation made to fans at Barcelona’s Nou Camp.
Suarez will wear the vacant number 9 shirt at the Catalan club, the previous number of Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez who has moved to Arsenal.
The former number 7 will leave Liverpool after his strongest season, plundering in 31 league goals and 12 assists last season, bagging himself the Premier League Golden Boot and both the PFA and Football Writers’Footballer of the Year awards. This increased his impressive Liverpool record, standing at 82 goals in 133 competitive games.
A deal in the making
Reception has been mixed about his departure. Fans have been flooding social media with differing opinions, from accusing him of purposely biting Chiellini to force a move through, to letters of thanks for his time at the Reds.
One amusing opinion came from Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy. The stopped conceded 11 goals against Suarez in his Liverpool career and tweeted: “Got to be in for a cut of that Suarez deal surely?!”
Suarez had been linked with a move away from Liverpool since receiving the ban for sinking his teeth into Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder in a vital World Cup group game. Despite a great spell at Liverpool, Suarez’s stint was never free of drama. The Uruguayan was banned for a total of 18 games, despite never receiving a red card.
Liverpool will miss his talent though, with arguably no strikers in the same league as Suarez available. Their loss however is Barcelona’s gain. Fans of the Spanish club will now be thrilled at the potential front three of Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi. This should help Barcelona rebuild after a disappointing season, in which Atletico Madrid won the league and Real Madrid claimed another Champions League.
A question of starters
Both clubs are expected to be busy this transfer window, with Barcelona also temporarily free of a 14 month transfer ban and Liverpool requiring depth to accommodate the arrival of Champions League football.
Barcelona have already bought in Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla as well as goalkeepers Claudio Bravo and Marc-André Ter Stegen to fill the loss of former stopper Victor Valdes.
Liverpool on the other hand have bought in Southampton duo Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, as well as Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Emre Can. Now is when the real business will start for the Reds as they look to replace their team’s prolific goalscorer.
Several strikers are being linked with the club, with Wilfried Bony, Karim Benzema and Romelo Lukaku some of the most recent to be mentioned.
Who will start next to Daniel Sturridge next season is a mystery that only Brendan Rodgers knows the answer to.
What do you think of this move? Have your say in the comments section below.
