Luis Suarez has revealed that the most painful part of his exit from Barcelona was when he was told that he was too old to compete in top level football.
Suarez left Barcelona during the summer transfer window (September) and moved to Atletico Madrid, he has since his move been scoring goals freely.
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The 34-year-old is happy at Atletico who are currently on the summit of LaLiga league table.
Speaking to France Football in an interview, the Uruguayan said:
What really bothered me was when they told me that I was old and that I could no longer play at a high level, be up to [the task of fronting] a great team, That’s what I did not like.
If I hadn’t done anything at a club like Barca for three or four seasons, I would have understood. But, every year at Barca, I scored more than 20 goals per season. I have always had good statistics, just behind Leo (Messi).
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He stressed;
Today, we can see that it is not easy to play at Barca. A lot of players who signed there did not have the level that was expected of them. Me, I played for six years at Barca maintaining a certain level and living up to what was expected of me.
At Barca, circumstances have changed, the club needed changes. And I accepted it. The only thing that bothered me was the way [it happened]. I think I deserved some respect.
Suarez added;
It was a decision that I could not prevent. I felt like I was no longer being counted on, so with my pride I told myself that I was going to continue to show what I am worth. This is why the idea of going to Atletico, a competitive team, appealed to me.
The striker’s peak campaign was in 2015-16 season, when he netted an astonishing 59 goals in all competitions. It was a time in which he scored more goals than Messi, and won the European Golden Shoe.
He has netted 16 goals for Atletico so far this term and they top the Liga table by three points – albeit their form has dipped in recent weeks with just one win from their last four games.
