Barcelona transfer news roundup: Barca make move for Luis Suarez's replacement, Fulham eye Barca defender, and more - 24th September 2020
Barcelona have bid goodbye to Luis Suarez who is now on his way to Atletico Madrid. The Catalan club are now looking for a like-for-like replacement but have not found one yet. Today's Barcelona transfer rumours include possible replacements for Luis Suarez and more.
Barcelona are back in the fray for Lautaro Martinez
Barcelona were in talks with Inter Milan for the services of Lautaro Martinez a few weeks ago but made no progress in that respect as they were unable to raise the requisite funds to sign the player. However, with the departure of Luis Suarez and more possible player sales in the coming weeks, the club have reportedly restarted their stalled talks to sign the Argentine striker.
Gerard Romero reports that the club have reinitiated talks with the San Siro side to bring Lautaro Martinez to Camp Nou. The striker had a €110 million release clause in his contract a few months back, but that has expired now.
Luis Suarez bids emotional goodbye to Barcelona
Barcelona held a goodbye ceremony for Luis Suarez today where he spoke a few words to the media. The striker began by thanking the club and the fans for their support and said:
"Thank you to all the fans for everything they have done, for all their support, for cheering me on from day one. For the support from everyone inside the Camp Nou. This is so important to me and will always stay with me. I want all the cules to know, I will always be one more cule, no matter where I am."
Talking about how the decision to leave Barcelona came about and how he felt about it, Luis Suarez said:
"The coach told me, but I expected it. I accepted it and I said I've still got a contract, and I'll keep training until we find a solution, and they respected that. It is hard to accept leaving. But it is reality, and it is the things that happen in the world of football."
When asked about what the future could hold for Barcelona, Suarez said:
"From what I've seen in training, it's a brand new year, a change of pace, change of enthuasism, lots of new players, always bringing in a lot, there's more opportunity for variation. I think I leave a good Barcelona, and all of these young players have a great opportunity."
Fulham eye Barcelona defender
Fulham have made a stunning bid to sign Barcelona's Jean-Clair Todibo, according to Sport. The Spanish publication reports that with Barcelona looking to sell the defender, the Premier League side have set sights on signing the player.
The 20-year-old defender also has interest from Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City, as per the same report. Barcelona are keen on offloading the player and spending the money from his sale on getting Eric Garcia from Manchester City.