It was the transfer that rocked La Liga last summer as Atletico Madrid completed the sensational signing of Luis Suarez from Barcelona.
The Uruguayan striker has so far been decisive for his new club having hit 16 goals in the league so far and propelling them to the top of the standings with 54 points from their opening 21 matches – five clear of their nearest challengers with two matches in hand.
Suarez is in a rich vein of form and appears to be reinvigorated in the Spanish capital under new boss Diego Simeone, who persuaded him to join the club from the Camp Nou last summer, and is on course to return the title to Los Rojiblancos for the first time since 2014.
Now, he has spoken out about “some people” who doubted him and the level he still held, which appears to be a hint at the Barcelona news of the club’s management no longer believing he was at an elite level.
“I still feel like I’m enjoying this moment that I’m in today, in football’s elite,” Suarez told an interview with ESPN. “Being at Atletico, you’re in football’s elite. Some people didn’t believe that I could still be at this level. I’ve got the same enthusiasm.
“I hope that this year, next year and for however many years it is, I keep competing and giving my best, until you realise that you’ve gone as far as you can. But no one will get rid of me. I’ll decide when I go.”