Luis Suarez was very close to Lionel Messi
Lius Suarez has told ESPN he believes Barcelona forced him out of the club because of his relationship with Lionel Messi.
Suarez, 33, joined Atletico Madrid last month having become Barca’s third all-time top scorer with 198 goals during a six-year spell at Camp Nou.
The Uruguayan striker’s departure was sold as a cost-cutting measure as Barca looked to reduce their wage bill to minimize the financial damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“There are a lot of contradictions (in Barcelona’s version of events),” Suarez told ESPN‘s ‘90 Minutos’ on Friday. “I would have looked for a solution if it was a financial problem and if it was a sporting issue I could have understood. It is not clear to me why they took the decision.
“I think they wanted to remove me from Messi’s side. Maybe it annoyed them that I had a good relationship with Leo. Perhaps they didn’t want him to be with me so much. I cannot find any reason to think of that would damage the team, though.
“We looked out for each other constantly on the pitch but for the good of the team. Maybe they wanted him to play with more teammates. That could have something to do with it. I cannot find any other reason to want to separate us because we got on well on the pitch,” he added.
Suarez’s departure came at the end of a hectic summer at Barcelona in which Messi had earlier tried to leave the club, only to be prevented from doing so in the end.
“They should have respected his decision to leave,” Suarez said.
“Maybe there is the possibility that he plays 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 and also if he has to go to another club,” he added.
Like Messi, Suarez has also been critical of Bartomeu and the Barca board. He feels he has earned the right to be treated with more respect.
“It really hurt me and my family the way they did it,” he explained.