Former Barcelona striker, Luis Suarez has revealed that the most disappointing aspect of his departure from his former employers was that the club said he was ‘too old’ to perform at the highest level.
Recall that Suarez left Barca for Atletico last September, in a transfer Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi described as ‘crazy’, and since then he has gone a long way to prove to the club that they were hasty in their actions by firing his new team to the top of the La Liga standings.
However, the 34-year-old Uruguayan is happy in his new abode, despite admitting it was tough to uproot his family, but is still pained by being billed as too old.
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‘What really bothered me was when they told me that I was old and that I could no longer play at a high level, be up to [the task of fronting] a great team’ Suarez told France Football. ‘That’s what I did not like.’
Suarez claims his record stood up to the closest scrutiny, and that the club erred in signing players, not on an elite level.
‘If I hadn’t done anything at a club like Barca for three or four seasons, I would have understood,‘ he said. ‘But, every year at Barca, I scored more than 20 goals per season. I have always had good statistics, just behind Leo (Messi).
‘Today, we can see that it is not easy to play at Barca … A lot of players who signed there did not have the level that was expected of them. Me, I played for six years at Barca maintaining a certain level and living up to what was expected of me.
‘At Barca, circumstances have changed, the club needed changes. And I accepted it. The only thing that bothered me was the way [it happened]. I think I deserved some respect.
‘It was a decision that I could not prevent. I felt like I was no longer being counted on, so with my pride I told myself that I was going to continue to show what I am worth. This is why the idea of going to Atletico, a competitive team, appealed to me.’
He has so far netted 16 goals for Atletico so far this term and they top the Liga table by three points – albeit their form has dipped in recent weeks with just one win from their last four games.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
