‘It’s the end of an era,’ says Suarez as he swaps Barcelona for Atletico Madrid
Luis Suarez insisted he will always remain a Barcelona fan in an emotional farewell press conference.
Bar ca announced on Wednesday that they had reached agreement to sell the 33-year-old striker to La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid.
“I want all the Culers (Barca fans) to know that I’ll always be one more Culer, regardless of where I am,” Suarez said.
“The support I have had from everyone inside the Camp Nou, from the staff, a massive effort from everyone and this is so important to me and will always stay with me.”
Amid all the upheaval at Bar ca this summer surrounding Lion el Messi’s future, it emerged that Suarez did not feature in the plans of head coach Ronald Koeman, who replaced Quique Se tie n in August.
Suarez had appeared set to join Italian champions Juventus, but a move to Turin collapsed after complications over the Uruguayan’s passport application.
Barcelona signed Suarez from Liverpool in July 2014 for £74 million, shortly after he had been banned for four months by Fifa for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup in Brazil.
“I want to say that the club has always had such con fidence in me since 2014 when they signed me,” Suarez said. “And the conditions (in which) I came and the mistake that I made, but they surrounded me with the confidence that they always had in me. It wasn’t easy to accept this.
“The coaches and my teammates, the way they accepted me when I came, it was amazing.”
Suarez, hugely popular among the club’s fans and in the dressing room, is third in Barca’s all-time scoring list, with 198 goals in 283 games in all competitions.
He won 13 major trophies during his six seasons at Camp Nou, including four league titles, four Copa del Reys and the Champions League.
“All the people know the sacrifice I’ve made in these years to come to Barcelona and to play for the best team in the world,” he added.
“I’m aware that we’re at the end of an era, that I should be very proud of everything that we’ve done.”