Despite being unceremoniously shoved out of the door at Barca by a belligerent new boss acting under the instructions of a totally clueless Barca board, the Uruguayan looks to have made peace with it, insisting that ‘sometimes it’s important to have a change’.
Suarez left Barcelona’s training ground in tears last week after agreeing a deal to join their La Liga rivals Athletico Madrid waiting with open arms to welcome the striker. Now, after producing a brace as a substitute on his debut against Granada in a 6-1 win, Suarez is clearly keen to look forward, rather than back with the tears turning into broad grins.
‘For a player, sometimes it’s important to have a change,’ Suarez said.
‘I’m coming to a club that has given me a spectacular welcome. You feel it in the atmosphere, you get a good impression from the start and that is seen on the pitch.
‘I’m very happy with my debut and even happier at getting the three points in our league opener.
‘Every time you make your debut and help the team with goals, you’re going to be happy, but we’ll see in the future because it’s a long season.’
For Suarez’s new boss Diego Simeone, it was not even the goals he produced off the bench that made the Uruguayan stand out after he was introduced with 20 minutes to go in the second half.
‘His two goals didn’t stand out for me, but his assists, his runs and his movement did,’ Simeone said.
‘The changes gave us a bit extra with the strength of Marcos, the quality of Vitolo, the clarity of Thomas [Partey] and Suarez knows what he has to do: play for the team.’
With his inspiring performance even at this early juncture in the new season with his new club, one can”t help but wonder how Bartomeu and new manager Koeman are feeling now about their decision to put this horse out to pasture?