Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez Photo: VCG

 

Luis Suarez's departure from Barcelona was not simple. There were stories from Italy that the striker had been part of an exam scam that would have helped him gain Italian citizenship despite being unable to pass the language test without the help of the examiners.

If that was not what put paid to his proposed move to Juventus then it was reportedly the Uruguayan's wage demands, with the Old Lady instead opting for the younger man - in this case the Spain striker Alvaro Morata, who returned to Turin for a second spell at Juve.

Morata's departure from Atletico ­Madrid meant that the Mattress Makers were in need of a striker and Suarez had been deemed surplus to requirements at Barcelona.

Manager Diego Simeone did not need asked twice for a player he had tried to sign earlier in his career.

"When the option of Suarez appeared, what was I going to say?" Simeone told the press ahead of the Uruguayan's debut.

"The arrival of Suarez encourages us to continue growing," Simeone said ahead of the side's season opener at home to last season's surprise package Granada.

"He will give us internal competition. He is a forward who has impressive offensive power and hopefully he can continue to produce the numbers that he has been doing in the past." 

Last season Suarez scored 16 goals for Barcelona as they finished without a trophy.

"These six years have been wonderful," Simeone said of Suarez's time at Barcelona. "His colleagues have received him with enthusiasm we hope he adapts as soon as possible.

"We all know him - he's a great reference for the team. Given the option that Alvaro [Morata] had of being able to leave, the best way to continue improving was to look for someone who could improve on Alvaro's scoring contribution, and when the option of Suarez appeared, what was I going to say? His numbers speak for themselves."

Atletico Madrid's previous Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan was a hit at the club while Simeone also pointed to fellow South American Radamel Falcao of Colombia who was a catalyst for success.

"We were lucky that when we had a very good Falcao, a very good Costa or a very good Griezmann, we came close to fighting for everything. Let's hope that with Luis ­Suarez it will be like that and we can overcome what we did last season."

Diego Costa, the Brazil-born Spain striker, is excited at the prospect. The bruiser was impressed after Suarez's debut.

"He is very good, one of us can do the fighting and the other can do the biting," Costa said of the club's new signing, referring to Suarez's bite on Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Suarez was guilty of similar offenses for both Liverpool and Ajax, where he played before moving to Barcelona.

The Uruguayan showed that he was still as sharp as his canine teeth as he carried on where he had left off at Barcelona on his Atletico Madrid debut.

Suarez scored two late goals after replacing Costa in the second half to cap off Atleti's 6-1 win over Granada and hint at a bright future in the Spanish capital.

Simeone was impressed but not by the quick-fire brace in his 20-minute cameo.

"His two goals didn't stand out for me, but his assists, his runs and his movement did," Simeone said after the thrashing.

"The arrival of an important player improves the team, but the team was already working very well. Now we'll continue taking it game by game, like always.

"Suarez's arrival generates a very good internal competition and if the 23 players accept the minutes they're going to get, I'm sure we'll compete well.

"From my perspective, when it comes to building a squad, I look for guys who know how to perform and who accept when they play and when they don't.

"That's how great teams are formed. That's what gives you the possibility of having more options. That's what we're looking for season by season."

Suarez also won a penalty that was overturned by VAR and hinted that there will be more to his game in Madrid than goals. Still, Costa sees his new teammate as a consumate goal threat.

"He's going to help us with lots of goals as well as his warrior spirit and his hunger to win trophies. I hope he can help us win another trophy for our fans, but we need to take each game as it comes."

"We are very lucky to have Luis, I don't understand how Barca could have let him leave," Costa added.

Let him leave they did despite his incredible record at the Camp Nou. He became the club's third top scorer in just six years in Barcelona and was the only player in the last decade to outscore both Messi and Ronaldo in a La Liga season.

New boss Ronald Koeman, who replaced Quique Setien this summer, had planned to rid the club of the Uruguayan but he told the media that the decision had been made before he arrived in the job.

Suarez has a point to prove after being forced out Simeone said.

"I'm going to be sincere with you, he was convinced that this was the place where he could show that he was a top-notch forward," Simeone noted. "I found what I was looking for for this club - ambition and a desire to be here.

"Hopefully he will give us back the options we had when we had the best Falcao, the best Costa or the best Griezmann. That would mean getting closer to the successes that all fans want."

If his debut is any indication then Barcelona may have made a huge mistake in handing a hungry Suarez to their title rivals.