Martino affirms that Inter Miami will rekindle interest in Luis Suárez

Martino affirms that Inter Miami will rekindle interest in Luis Suárez
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Coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino of Inter Miami CF has reaffirmed his team’s interest in bringing in veteran striker Luis Suárez this winter.

Three months after the transfer rumors first surfaced, Martino stated the organization is still considering a possible move for the 36-year-old Uruguayan, speaking to the media the day before Miami’s final home game of the MLS season, a 2-2 tie with Charlotte FC.

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“Within our analysis of the season ahead and the needs we might have, we have a look with Luis and an analysis without Luis,” Martino stated.

“When the time arrives to make Suárez’s condition with regards to Inter Miami official, we’ll be ready to proceed in the corresponding direction.”

Suárez, who is just halfway into the two-year deal he signed in December 2022, will leave the Porto Alegre-based club at the conclusion of the Brazilian Serie A season in December, as announced earlier this month by the current coach at Grêmio, Renato Gaucho.

“He was someone who came over here and not only left his mark at Grêmio, yet I believe that every part of Brazil recognizes it,” stated Gaucho. Working with him has been a pleasure for me. He is very much missed by us.

Suárez is now Grêmio’s top scorer this season with nine goals in 27 league games. Suárez is Uruguay’s all-time greatest scorer with 68 goals in 137 appearances for La Celeste.

With 12 games left, the two-time Serie A winners, who were demoted in 2021 but came back the following year, are presently third in the standings, 14 points behind Botafogo.

When Suárez acknowledged that the intense demands of the Brazilian league were having a negative impact on his physique, particularly his knees, rumors regarding a prospective move to South Florida started to surface.

While playing for Liverpool in 2014, he had meniscus surgery on his left knee, and while playing for Barcelona in 2020, he underwent a similar procedure on his right knee.

“I feel that the next year I won’t have the ability to perform because of my fitness and the intense demands of the Brazilian championship, that’s why the club and myself have spoken about terminating my contract [with Grêmio] a year early,” he told reporters at the end of July.

Just under two weeks prior, Inter Miami finalized the signing of Lionel Messi, however, Suárez said at the time that the MLS team had communicated with Grêmio but not directly with him.

Midway through its current campaign, Miami added Messi and other former Barcelona stars Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. These signings helped the team win the Leagues Cup and a spot in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.

From 2014 until 2020, Suárez played six seasons at Camp Nou alongside that trio, taking home four Spanish La Liga championships and the 2015 UEFA Champions League.

As for Miami’s present high-end striker scenario, Josef Martnez is in the final year of his contract and might not play there again in the upcoming campaign, while Ecuadorian striker Leonardo Campana, 23, recently inked a contract extension that would keep him in South Florida through 2027.

Following Wednesday’s tie with Charlotte, Martino acknowledged that the team has recently been mostly focused on the next season.

“We cannot ignore the game we played tonight or the one on Saturday, yet we already have thoughts about next season,” stated Martino. “I always thought 2024 was the year that, in some way, our work started.”

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