Suarez speaks about Neymar’s exit from Barcelona: Ballon d’Or, Golden Boot, Manchester City

Former Barcelona forward Luis Suarez has revealed that they advised Neymar to stay and while the Brazil forward did agree to it, his surroundings – mainly his representatives and family – decided to move out instead.

Speaking to PLACAR, a Brazilian publication, the Uruguayan spoke at length about several aspects of his Barcelona career, including how special his bond was with the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar.

“For us, Messi was the best in the world and for me, Neymar was number 2. They made me win the Golden Boot, I will always be grateful to them,” he said.

“This is another proof that three stars can play with one team with the aim of winning with the team and not thinking individually, and this is what made us better,” he added.

Luis Suarez’s best return in a Barcelona shirt came in the 2015-16 season where he ended up scoring 59 goals across all competitions, 40 of which came in La Liga alone. Speaking about how he achieved the feat, he said,

“When I was competing with Cristiano for the Golden Boot, Messi and Neymar helped me win. They made me take penalty kicks and passed me the balls to score. Always grateful for that.”

Neymar wants to stay, claims Suarez

When asked about Neymar’s tenure, the former Ajax and Liverpool frontman was of the idea that if the Brazilian had stayed, he would have won the Ballon d’Or.

“I am responsible for my words. If Neymar had stayed in Barcelona, he would have won the Ballon d’Or.

Neymar left Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, a season after Barcelona failed to win the league title. Shedding light on the transfer, Suarez explained, “We told Neymar we were bad because we lost, but that will change. There will be reinforcements coming that we need.

“He listened to us and said yes, I want to stay! But as you know, with his surroundings, it is difficult to manage. We advised him as friends to stay, but his family decided to move out.”

Manchester City’s interest

Manchester City were another team interested in Ney’s signature, it seems, and for Suarez and co., they believed that was the better route for the Brazilian.

“We said, ‘Neymar, England is better. [Manchester] City, that football will be better there. But in France?”

“Of course, we understand the development of French football in recent years, but at that time we told him the best decision was to stay,” he added.

Neymar’s eventual departure to PSG changed the whole complexion of football transfer. For the first time in the history of the game, a team paid over €200 million in transfer fee for the player. There were indeed some financial complications, but the player is now close to completing six years in France.