Luis Suarez in tearful FC Barcelona farewell: I made history at this club

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Ben Hayward24 September 2020

Luis Suarez said goodbye to Barcelona in a tearful press conference on Thursday, and made it clear he thought he had more to give at the Catalan club.

Dressed in a grey suit and accompanied by his wife and children, an emotional Suarez struggled to speak as he read a short speech before taking questions from the media after his move to Atletico Madrid was announced late on Wednesday night.

"I will always be grateful," the Uruguayan said. "Everyone knows the effort I made to fulfil a dream. I always said this was the best club in the world. I'm aware that a chapter is ending.

"I have been here many years and have made a lot of friends. That makes me happy, to say goodbye to people at the club and for them to see that not only a player was leaving, but also a human being with feelings.

"My family know the suffering I experienced. But my children got to see me lift trophies, score goals, and they got to see me alongside the best in history (Lionel Messi). That will stay in the memory."

Asked what Barca would lose with his departure, Suarez said: "Sometimes the club needs changes and the coach didn't count on me. I leave with the feeling that I have accomplished... it's not easy at all to become the third highest scorer for the club."

And on the phone call from new Barca coach Ronald Koeman in which he found out he was no longer in the club's plans, he said: "When the coach communicated that to me, I expected it because it had been said before. I can accept it and, as I said from the beginning, I wanted to carry on training.

"I told him I wanted to carry on training until a solution could be found."

The 33-year-old, who scored 198 goals in 283 games as a Barca player, also indicated he was not in agreement with the club's decision.

"I thought that [I had more to give], he said. "But that's in the past. "Obviously I feel I'm prepared to carry on competing in LaLiga. I'm keen to start again, even more so after my injury.

"I have a new excitement and I want to show I can carry on competing."

Asked if he had anything to reproach himself for following his six seasons at Camp Nou, Suarez replied: "To me? Or to...? (pointing his head towards Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu)."

"I can do a lot of self-criticism. It (the heavy Champions League defeats) happened to us one, two, three times. We have to learn. We are professional and we need to learn from that.

"But I can't reproach myself for anything. Everyone knows I have played with knocks, with injuries, and I value that. I leave here proud to have entered into the history of the club."

And when another journalist asked to whom he had been referring to with his previous answer, he said: "Everyone can take it as they please. I won't give anyone the pleasure.

"I leave as a great player who has made history at this club."

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