Former Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has opened up on his acrimonious departure from the Spanish club last season.
The Uruguayan international has hit out at the Dutch manager Ronald Koeman for treating him poorly and forcing him to join the Catalan club’s rivals.
According to Sport, Koeman forced the experienced striker out of the club after informing him but he would not be a regular starter for Barcelona anymore.
Luis Suarez also slammed the former Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu who apparently leaked news that Suarez was detrimental to the clubs dressing room.
He said: “It [my departure] was the responsibility of Koeman who treated me like I was 15, and Bartomeu who leaked that I was hurting the dressing room.”
The striker went on to join Atletico Madrid last summer and helped them win the Spanish league title by scoring 25 goals for them last year.
The former Barcelona player has now warned Xavi Hernandez about replacing Koeman at the Spanish club.
Suarez believes that the time is not right for the former Barcelona midfielder to come in and replace the Dutch manager and he should wait patiently for the right time to take over.
The striker claims that Xavi has all the tools to become a top-class manager in future.
Suarez added: “I recommend Xavi to wait. This is not the ideal time to get to the club. He’s smart and he has to wait a moment. There are players he has played with and it will be difficult to make decisions about them.
“Certainly, I see the time when Xavi will be a coach at the Camp Nou. He will be a great coach, just like he was a player.”
Suarez also reflected on the departure of Lionel Messi and revealed that the other time superstar was happy at Barcelona and he wanted to end his career at the Spanish club.
In the end, Barcelona failed to renew Messi’s contract because of their financial situation and the player moved to Paris Saint Germain on a free transfer.
