Luis Suarez may someday join Lionel Messi and his other ex-Barcelona colleagues on Inter Miami.
The 36-year-old Uruguayan striker apparently wants to join the MLS squad, but his current club, Grêmio, is refusing to release him from his contract.
Despite Suarez’s readiness to return $10 million in pay to assist a transfer, Grêmio wants to make sure Suarez does not play for another team until next season, according to ESPN.
Suarez and Inter Miami were strongly rumored to be the two former Barcelona players’ destinations when Messi left for the MLS on June 7. However, it seemed unlikely that the two would ever cross paths given Suarez’s purported repeated knee issues, which sparked retirement rumors last month.
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi to Re-Unite at Inter Miami?
Suarez’s knee problems, according to ESPN, are a crucial element of the deadlock between him and Grêmio, since he feels he has a right to play for Miami if he is fit enough.
Suarez continues to play for Grêmio, but feels his knee would be better served in the MLS, which has a less demanding schedule than his current club, according to ESPN.
There’s also the question of Miami’s designated player slots, which are utilized as salary-cap exceptions to entice high-paid soccer players from across the world. Messi and another ex-Barcelona player Sergio Busquets now take up two of Inter Miami’s three roster spaces after being formally presented by the club on Sunday. Leonardo Campana, the incumbent forward, presently has the other place.
Jordi Alba, another former Barcelona colleague of Messi, Busquets, and Suarez, has apparently agreed to a deal with Inter Miami, although the team has yet to confirm it. It is unclear how Miami intends to accommodate Alba and Suarez on their squad unless both are ready to take significant wage cuts.
Suarez returned to South America in 2022 following a successful European career with Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid, where he was considered as one of the world’s top attackers. Suarez’s “MSN” offensive three of him, Messi, and fellow superstar Neymar combined for a record 122 goals in Suarez’s first season at Barcelona in 2014-15, propelling the venerable club to a “treble” of La Liga, Copa Del Rey, and UEFA Champions League championships.
Inter Miami is presently in last position in the Eastern Conference of the Major League Soccer. Messi is set to make his debut for the club in a Leagues Cup encounter against Liga MX team Cruz Azul on Friday.
