Luis Suarez has opened up on a possible transfer to Real Madrid, back when he was playing for Liverpool in 2014. The striker revealed that Los Blancos were in the race to sign him alongside Barcelona that year. Madrid were pushing to sign him and reportedly wanted to offload Karim Benzema to get the Uruguayan.
At the time, Suarez was the best striker in the Premier League, coming on the back of a season where he won the European Golden Shoe and PFA Players’ Player of the Year campaign in which he bagged a thoroughly impressive 31 goals in 33 Premier League appearances.
Luis Suarez opens up on failed Real Madrid transfer in 2014
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists |
| Benzema | 648 | 354 | 165 |
| Suarez | 283 | 195 | 113 |
“Before the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid wanted me as they wanted to sell Benzema to Arsenal. Barcelona at the time was [also] interested and Luis Enrique was pressing,” admitted Suarez.
“The bite case happened and Barcelona continued to want to sign me despite the punishment. I will always be grateful for that,” he continued.
In the 2014 World Cup, Suarez bit Giorgio Chiellini of Italy, which led to FIFA banning him for four months. Madrid dropped out of the race and stick with Benzema, which proved to be the right decision in the long run. And so did Suarez’s £65 million transfer to Barcelona.
He went on to form the incredible MSN partnership alongside Messi and Neymar, winning the 2014/15 Champions League. On the other hand, Karim Benzema won the Ballon d’or with Los Blancos, emerging as one of their best strikers ever at the end of his spell with them. He won five Champions League titles in the famous white shirt and finished as one of the top scorers in their history.
While Suarez is reunited with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami now, Benzema is playing in Al Ittihad as part of the ambitious project in the Saudi Pro League.
