Luis Suarez says he cried over the way he was treated by Barcelona before leaving for Atletico Madrid. The Uruguay forward ended a six-year spell at Barca in September and says he was stopped from training with the first team before his departure.
“Those days were very difficult. I cried because of what I was having to go through,” said Suarez, 33. “I was hurt most of all by the way they did things, because one has to accept it when a cycle comes to an end.”
Suarez joined Barcelona from Liverpool for £74m in 2014 and became the Spanish giants’ third all-time top scorer with 198 goals, winning four La Liga titles, four domestic cups and the 2015 Champions League in the process. He netted 21 goals in 2019-20 – his lowest tally during the six years – and, after not being involved in Barca’s pre-season matches, he left with one-year remaining on his contract.
Atletico paid a nominal fee of no more than 6m euros for Suarez. “I didn’t take the club’s message that they were looking for a solution for me in order to mix things up very well,” added Suarez, who has two goals in three games for Atletico.
