{"id":569150,"date":"2020-10-12T07:24:02","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T11:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=569150"},"modified":"2020-10-12T07:28:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-12T11:28:43","slug":"ronald-koeman-says-luis-suarez-could-have-stayed-to-prove-him-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/10\/12\/ronald-koeman-says-luis-suarez-could-have-stayed-to-prove-him-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronald Koeman Says Luis Suarez Could Have Stayed at Barcelona to Prove Him Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ronald Koeman has spoken to Dutch publication NOS and has suggested that Luis Suarez could have stayed at Barcelona<\/a> to “prove that I [Koeman] was wrong”.<\/p>\n

Ronald Koeman Says Luis Suarez Could Have Stayed to Prove Him Wrong<\/h2>\n

Suarez Not Forced Out<\/h3>\n

Koeman said; \u201cIn the case of Suarez, it had become very difficult for him to start playing and I made that known to him…but I never had any trouble with him at all.”<\/p>\n

“He finally made the choice to leave and I said: ‘If you don’t leave, for whatever reason, then you are just one of the group, then you can prove that I was wrong’. He could have stayed, yes.<\/p>\n

“I’m good with Luis, but the club felt that we had to rejuvenate. You can see that now in the team.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, Barcelona has added<\/a> the likes of; Pedri (17), Trincao (20), Matheus Fernandes (22) and Sergi\u00f1o Dest (19) who are all included in their latest Champions League squad. Their average squad age sits at about 25, which is the fifth youngest squad in La Liga.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Challenge<\/h3>\n

Luis Suarez was snapped up on a two-year deal<\/a> by Atletico Madrid for about six million euros<\/a>. The Uruguayan striker has scored 147 goals in 191 La Liga appearances for Los Blancos. However, despite scoring the third highest amount of goals in his former club’s history, he left without any real send-off.<\/p>\n

His team-mate Lionel Messi\u00a0said;<\/a><\/p>\n

“You deserved a send-off matching who you are – one of the most important players in the club’s history, achieving important things both as a group and individually.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Not to get thrown out like you have been. But the truth is at this point nothing surprises me.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Suarez is 33-years-old but has already got off to a good start in Madrid. He scored two goals and notched one assist against Granada.<\/p>\n

Whilst he may have left his old club in murky circumstances, Suarez looks set on a new course with Atletico Madrid. Manager Diego Simeone will no doubt be delighted with this goal return just 20 minutes into his debut.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>