Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez has revisited his bitter split from La Liga giant Barcelona 18 months ago.
The former Barca star admits the way he was treated still burns.
He recalled to ESPN: “I regret the way it turned out. As I explained, if you have a player who has been at the club for ten years, the third top scorer, the president, or the coach, could have warned me. We could have met one day to have the situation explained to me. It would have been better, it would have been totally different.
“But a week before, the media had already announced: ‘They will tell Luis Suárez when he leaves’. Suárez this, Suárez that. So I already knew that. And when the coach called me to tell me that I was no longer in his plans, it hurt me.
“I tried to terminate my contract, because the club didn’t want me anymore and I was at an age where no one wanted to pay for me. Everything was ready for the termination of the contract and I was going to sign with Atlético. And the coach said: ‘I have already told the president that if he does not make up his mind tomorrow, Sunday, against Villarreal, I am counting on you’. I said, ‘How can you count on me if I wasn’t in your plans?’ (And he replied) ‘You weren’t, but now you are’.
“I did not understand if I was not in the plans of the coach, or if it was the board of directors who did not want me anymore.”
Suarez would eventually leave for Atletico and subsequently help them win last season’s LaLiga title.
He said: “At the end of the season, I distinguished myself with Atlético, scoring the winning goal and winning the Spanish championship. This is priceless, I thank Atlético for having opened its doors to me.”
