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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Barcelona admit to approaching Luis Suárez before the World Cup | Barcelona admit to approaching Luis Suárez before the World Cup |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Barcelona have admitted they made an approach to Luis Suárez before the World Cup and always expected him to move to Spain eventually. | Barcelona have admitted they made an approach to Luis Suárez before the World Cup and always expected him to move to Spain eventually. |
| The Uruguayan – currently serving a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in Brazil – initially told Barcelona’s representatives that he was happy to stay at Liverpool. However, the Barça president Josep Bartomeu insisted that they could persuade him to join them because his wife’s family already live in the city. | The Uruguayan – currently serving a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in Brazil – initially told Barcelona’s representatives that he was happy to stay at Liverpool. However, the Barça president Josep Bartomeu insisted that they could persuade him to join them because his wife’s family already live in the city. |
| “When we approached Suárez, it was before the World Cup. We told him that he had the right age. He had the experience,” Bartomeu told CNN. “Playing at Liverpool gave him incredible performances and it was the right time for him to come to our club, to Barcelona. | “When we approached Suárez, it was before the World Cup. We told him that he had the right age. He had the experience,” Bartomeu told CNN. “Playing at Liverpool gave him incredible performances and it was the right time for him to come to our club, to Barcelona. |
| “We knew from of lot of years ago that Luis Suárez likes our club, likes our city. And we have the advantage – his agent is Pep Guardiola’s brother. He’s from Barça in his heart, also, so everything was perfect and created the perfect atmosphere that Luis Suárez accepted.” | “We knew from of lot of years ago that Luis Suárez likes our club, likes our city. And we have the advantage – his agent is Pep Guardiola’s brother. He’s from Barça in his heart, also, so everything was perfect and created the perfect atmosphere that Luis Suárez accepted.” |
| Suárez left Anfield for £75m last month and signed a five-year deal at Camp Nou. Under the terms of his suspension, he will not be available to make his debut until October but Bartomeu admitted Barcelona were not put off by his prolonged absence. | Suárez left Anfield for £75m last month and signed a five-year deal at Camp Nou. Under the terms of his suspension, he will not be available to make his debut until October but Bartomeu admitted Barcelona were not put off by his prolonged absence. |
| “We didn’t rethink this decision and we told Luis after the bite,” he said. “He knows he did wrong. He apologised. That’s very important for us. That means he knows that he did not do things properly and of course, coming to our city, coming to our club, there’s going to be a way of managing Luis Suárez.” | “We didn’t rethink this decision and we told Luis after the bite,” he said. “He knows he did wrong. He apologised. That’s very important for us. That means he knows that he did not do things properly and of course, coming to our city, coming to our club, there’s going to be a way of managing Luis Suárez.” |
| Meanwhile, the court of arbitration for sport has confirmed that the hearing into Suárez’s ban will be held on Friday in Lausanne. |