The president at Barcelona and Lionel Messi clash over the possible departure of Luis Suarez in the coming summer transfer market.
Luis Suarez and his future at Barcelona has been under the limelight of the press and the public since the start of the 2019/20 season, the former Premier League striker suffered a meniscus injury in January 2020 and it seems like the veteran forward will not return to optimum fitness until early May this year.
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Although Luis Suarez would recover from his injury before the start of the coming season, it is highly unlikely that a 33-year-old would return from such a major injury and hit the ground running. Although, the former Liverpool man has not been at his best physical conditioning over the years which may hamper his complete recovery process as well.
Since last season, the Uruguayan international has slowed down tremendously and is no longer as clinical he once was, one of the main factors that have led to the deterioration of Luis Suarez is his poor weight management. The striker is slightly overweight as he stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs in at 85 kgs, which is crossing the benchmark of being in the normal weight category.
The Catalan club have considered to do away with Luis Suarez and Lautaro Martinez was tipped to be the striker to fill in his boots, however, Inter Milan have demanded a hefty figure for their Argentine forward and Barcelona has several other departments to work on as well rather than going all out on a striker.
However, the possibility of the former Liverpool man being sold this coming season has disturbed Lionel Messi, both the South Americans are the best of friends and it is next to impossible to separate either of them.
It is well known that Lionel Messi has the power to keep players at the squad even when they are no longer required, the Barca captain has done it in the past as well when his close friend Pinto stayed in the Camp Nou for another two more years as a secondary choice goalkeeper.
The Argentine captain has made it clear that Luis Suarez should not be sold irrespective of whatever happens and that the former Ajax man is deemed untouchable.
Meanwhile, Bartomeu seems to have not taken Leo Messi’s words seriously as he has considered signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal, the African forward has conveyed his message to Mikel Arteta that he will not continue as Gunner after his contract ends in 2021 and he can leave England for 25 million pounds. The Gunners prefer Luka Jovic from Real Madrid to cover up the former Borussia Dortmund man’s role.
According to Don Balon, the Gabonese striker has put forward a condition through his agent to the board of Barcelona, that if he has to play at the Camp Nou then Luis Suarez must leave. The Arsenal striker does not want to compete with Luis Suarez, as he himself will turn 31 in June and he prefers to get regular game time during the last few seasons of his professional career.
If Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang signs for Barcelona, there will be hell at Camp Nou as there could be a possible departure including Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.