Suarez bids farewell to Barcelona
Visibly emotional and with a trembling voice since the beginning of his speech, Suarez assured that he will always be grateful to the club for the trust they placed in him when they signed him in 2014.
"Barça knew the conditions under which I came, that I had made a mistake (FIFA had sanctioned me with a four-month ban for biting Italian Giorgio Chiellini in the Brazil World Cup), and I will always be grateful to them for that," he confessed.
Suarez's tears turned into a smile after a video with his best moments was projected at the Auditorium 1899 del Camp Nou, where the farewell ceremony took place.
"I will take friends from here," said the Uruguayan striker, accompanied in his farewell by his wife, Sofia Balbi, the four team captains - Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué and Sergi Roberto - and also Jordi Alba.
The president of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, also accompanied him and highlighted "his charisma, his human side, and above all his sporting skills," stating that he "is already part of Barça's legend."
Suarez leaves for Atletico Madrid as the third highest scorer in the history of Barcelona (198 goals) and after winning thirteen titles (1 Champions League, 1 Club World Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 4 La Liga, 4 Copa del Rey and 2 Spanish Super Cup) in six seasons.
"It has been a dream come true, but I never imagined reaching these numbers. Here you have to always perform at your best and you don't know how many years you can stay. I leave more than proud and satisfied with some spectacular and wonderful years at Barça," he said.
He also remembered his friend Leo Messi, who was present in the room: "I take the fact that my children have seen me play with the best in the world," he emphasized referring to the Argentine star.
Although he admitted that he has not yet "digested" having to leave the Catalan club, he did not want to blame anyone for his departure. "I'm not going to give anyone the satisfaction. I'm going to leave as the great player I was at Barcelona, because of the numbers and the history I made in this club," he insisted.
At 33 years old, he assured that he chose Atletico because he believes he can still perform at the highest level. "I feel capable of continuing to play in La Liga, I am very eager and I want to show that I can still compete, either at Barcelona or at another team," said the Uruguayan, who received applause several times during the emotional press conference.
However, even though he will now wear the red and white, he wanted to make it clear that he will always be a Barça supporter, even though he would have liked to be the one to choose the moment of his farewell. "Wherever I am, there will always be one more culé," he summed up.