One of the greatest football players that Barcelona has had in recent years, is about to depart. After having had some really great seasons with the team, the 32-year old Luis Suarez knows the times has come to part ways with the team that’s brought him so much success over the past couple of years, since leaving Liverpool back in 2014. Dwindling form along with injuries has put a stop to Suarez playing at same level as back in 2015/2016 season as well as 2016/2017.
Up to the point of his latest injury, he had managed to play 261 games for his beloved FC Barcelona during which he scored no less than 186 goals and assisted to an additional 97 goals. With his contract coming to an end together with his form and injuries, Barcelona will not offer him a new contract and are instead on the hunt for a possible replacement. Whomever they choose will have some big shoes to fill with Suarez being the fourth successful goal scorer in Barcelona history and have during his time in the team played a vital role in the team’s successes.
– But it’s been far from easy for the Uruguay player, with strict training schedules with little time for rest. If you performed badly during a game, you weren’t forgiven as easy as in other teams. It is not easy to play in a club like Barcelona, to adapt and prove that you earned that spot, Suarez said in an interview with Daily Mirror.
The question everyone keeps asking now is who will Barcelona bring in to replace Suarez, who has the capacity to fill those shoes and deliver the goals that the team would be looking for? There are several names circulating around media with the RB Salzburgs striker Erling Håland being one of them, mere 19-years of age.
Other names that have been mentioned as potential replacements for him are Tottenham’s Harry Kane, along with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford, Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé and lastly Inter’s Lautaro Martínez.
These are but a handful of the potentials for the club and we have yet to see any confirmation or recognition from the team as who they might be interested in so for now, all the names are speculations.
But picking one in the line of great players is like playing a gamble now in the Kentucky Derby horse race, where you choose the one that seems best at the day, just to fall short when it really counts. It’s so much more than just the individual and their performance.
For a player to succeed in a team like Barcelona he needs to be a good fit with the other players in the team, he needs to have the right mentality and ability to adjust to their way of playing, their approach and tactics and not every player no matter how good they are, will necessarily fit with a team of this caliber.
Alongside the names mentioned above, we do know that the team has their eye on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the golden boot winner during last season and on track to also win it this season. What speaks against Barcelona taking on this Gabonese player is his age, being 30- years old. The question the team would be asking themselves is how many more good years they could get before they end up in a similar situation as they are now with Suarez.
The team has until mid-2021 to find a suitable replacement as that’s when Suarez contract expires but we know for a fact that they are looking to find a replacement as soon as possible to fill this gap without further delay.
As for Luis himself, he has yet to decide what his next move might be. The latest rumors suggest that he is eying the US league and LA Galaxy, in particular, to fill the spot left empty by Zlatan Ibrahimović with his departure from the team, something that’s yet to be confirmed but highly likely.
