Luis Suárez reveals he was close to replacing Benzema at Real Madrid
The Uruguayan striker revealed that he was close to signing for the Merengues in the summer of 2014, but chose to choose Barcelona
Luis Suárez gave an interview to the program ‘La Mesa’ revealing that he was very close to signing for Real Madrid in the summer of 2014, before leaving Liverpool for Barcelona, to replace French international Karim Benzema who would be leaving for the Premier League, to represent Arsenal.
“My representative spoke to Real Madrid before the 2014 World Cup. Real Madrid wanted to sign me and everything was going in the right direction. They were thinking about selling Benzema to Arsenal, everything was already done,” revealed the international Uruguayan.
The 37-year-old striker recalled that the Chiellini bite episode , in a group stage game of the World Cup in Brazil, in which Uruguay beat Italy 1-0, ended up cooling the meringues’ interest, as the striker was suspended by FIFA, preventing him from carrying out any football activity for four months.
“When the World Cup started, Barcelona entered the race and obviously I preferred Barça. With the nibble situation, Real Madrid’s interest decreased and Barcelona intensified negotiations and became more interested. In the end, I had both options and I chose Barcelona because it was my dream”, added the forward.
Remember that Luis Suárez transferred to Barcelona in July 2014, from Liverpool, for 81.7 million euros. The striker, who currently represents Inter Miami, became a legend at the Catalan club and formed one of the most successful trios in the history of football with Messi and Neymar, registering 195 goals and 113 assists in 283 games, winning a Champions League Champions, a Club World Cup, four Spanish championships, four King’s Cups and two Spanish Super Cups.