Luis Suarez could have stayed at The Reds if it wasn’t for rivals Manchester City.
The Uruguayan moved to Barcelona in 2014 for a fee of £75 million.
Manchester City could have stopped Luis Suarez from joining Barcelona had they agreed to sell Sergio Aguero to the Catalan giants.
Former Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has unveiled that Luis Suarez wasn’t their prime target, and instead had Manchester City star Sergio Aguero as the priority on their shopping list.
Zubizarreta has claimed that a deal for the Argentina international could not be materialized after the Manchester club refused to sell their biggest asset.
“We had a few options. Our first choice was not Suarez — he knows this,” said Zubizarreta.
“In the winter, we tried to sign Aguero. But it didn’t come off.
“In this situation, there was no doubt: Luis Suarez became our only objective.”
Suarez has been in tremendous form this season, scoring 29 goals in 29 appearances in all competitions.
But just before the confirmation of the signing, the 28-year-old bit Italian Georgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup.
However, former sporting director Zubizarreta insists that the incident helped push through the deal.
“During the negotiation process, there was the incident with Chiellini,” added Zubizarreta.
“This put a lot of doubt into the minds of the clubs who wanted him.
“His character was being questioned and no one know just how severe the ban would be.
“I thought this was the moment to accelerate the formalities of the signing.”
By Ollie Carroll