Suarez reveals reasons for Liverpool exit

Matt Stead
Brendan Rodgers Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez has explained how “responsibility” played a part in his decision to leave Liverpool for Barcelona.

Suarez joined Barcelona in summer 2014 for around £70million after three-and-a-half successful years at Anfield, scoring 82 goals in 133 games.

Since joining the Spanish side, Suarez has won a Champions League, a La Liga title, a Copa del Rey, a Super Cup and a Club World Cup, while Liverpool have continued to struggle in his absence.

Discussing his exit with former team-mate and Daily Mail columnist Jamie Carragher, the 29-year-old revealed that a desire to be the best fuelled the move.

“It was a dream to arrive at Liverpool but I never wanted to just settle for what I had achieved,” Suarez said. “I wanted more. I played for Liverpool alongside Stevie (Gerrard) and you and that was incredible but then I went on to have a lot more responsibility and even bigger clubs were interested in me. My attitude was always to keep growing as a player.

“That’s the mentality – don’t just play it, win it. My desire at Liverpool was to help get the club playing in the elite because they had been five years without it. We used to talk about it in the dressing room. If Liverpool are not in the Champions League, it is difficult to get the best players to come to the club. That’s why for me to come to Barcelona there had to be that opportunity to not just play the tournament but to win it.

“I’d have to say I enjoy myself a lot more, really. I don’t feel so much responsibility as I did in other teams. It felt sometimes at Ajax and Liverpool that it had to be me. Now, every time I go out on to the pitch, I enjoy myself and laugh. I have gone through too many difficult times in my career and I don’t want to keep thinking about them.

“That’s why, right now, I just want to enjoy every minute. I never imagined I would be playing with these players in the best team in the world. At Liverpool I enjoyed it a lot. I laughed a lot. We laughed a lot, didn’t we? But, at the same time, I felt a lot of responsibility. Perhaps that affected me the wrong way sometimes.”