Luis Suárez was emotional when he was introduced by Barcelona six years ago, and again on Thursday when he had to say goodbye after being told he wasn’t wanted by the club anymore.
The Uruguayan striker, who has joined Atlético Madrid, couldn’t hold back tears as he bid farewell and said he will always be grateful despite being told to leave.
“When the club says it doesn’t need you anymore, you have to accept it,” he said in a news conference organised by Barca.
“But it takes a while, it’s difficult. Your family is involved, you’ve gone through a lot with the club. So it’s difficult to accept that you are leaving, but you have to. It’s the reality, it’s how things are in football.”
The 33-year-old Suárez, broke down a few times while talking about his former teammates and his time with his former club.
Suárez said he was “leaving with pride for having made history with this club.”
He departs as Barcelona’s third highest scorer with 198 goals, behind César RodrÃguez (232) and Lionel Messi (634).
The Uruguayan helped Barcelona win 13 titles since arriving in 2014 from Liverpool, including four La Liga trophies and the Champions League in 2015.