Diego Simeone concedes he could not believe Barcelona were willing to sell Luis Suarez and says he called the striker straightaway to convince him to join Atletico Madrid.
Atletico won the La Liga title on the final day of the campaign on Saturday, with Suarez’s goal sealing the important 2-1 win over Real Valladolid.
Barcelona made the shocking decision to sell Suarez last summer, while the Uruguayan forward was reduced to tears in his farewell speech to teammates and fans.
Suarez had played a vital role in Barcelona’s recent success, scoring 198 goals in 283 matches across his six-year stay at the club.
And Simeone admits he was shocked when Atletico’s hierarchy contacted him to confirm Barcelona were offering the opportunity to sign Suarez.
‘I met a man. I expected nothing less,’ Simone told ESPN’s F360. ‘I was very happy from the first day I spoke with him, I had already spoken with him when he was at Liverpool, in an effort for him to sign with us but he chose Barcelona.
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‘And when the possibility [for Atletico to sign him] appeared, the club called me and said, ‘what do you think about the possibility of Luis Suarez coming?’ and I replied, ‘are you serious?’ Don’t ask me, let’s go for it, let me talk to him’.
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‘When I spoke to him, the first thing I said to him was, ‘look Luis, we need to win, and you want to win, the door is open’.
‘There are players who are chosen with the magic wand, like Suarez, he is a winner. He came with all the questions about his departure at Barcelona and arrived with a rebellion of a 20-year-old boy, with an enthusiasm, wanting to show that he was in force.
‘And when a guy, who is used to winning, joins a team that needs to win, I said, ‘this year he can paint well’.’
