Players - Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez
Birthdate: 24 January 1987
Birthplace: Salto, Uruguay
Other clubs: Nacional (2003-06), Groningen (2006-07), Ajax (2007-11), Barcelona (2014-20), Atletico Madrid (2020-22), Nacional (2022), Gremio (2022-23), Inter Miami (2023-)
Signed from: Ajax
Signed for LFC: £22.8m, 31.01.2011
International debut: 08.02.2007 vs. Colombia
International caps: 138/68 (40/25 at LFC) - 21.11.2023
Liverpool debut: 02.02.2011
Last appearance: 11.05.2014
Debut goal: 02.02.2011
Last goal: 05.05.2014
Contract expiry: 16.07.2014
Win ratio: 50.38% W:67 D:30 L:36
Games/goals ratio: 1.62
Games/assists ratio: 4.59
Honours: League Cup 2012, 2014 PFA Player of the Year, 2014 Football Writers' Footballer of the Year, 2013/14 Premier League Player of the Year, 2014 Premier League Golden Boot, 2014 European Golden Boot (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo)
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 4 / 1
League games / goals / assists: 110 / 69 / 23
Total games / goals / assists: 133 / 82 / 29

Player Profile

In the final days of the January 2011 transfer-window the "Torres to Chelsea" story became much bigger than any Suarez story which was a pity because the new Anfield arrival had a goals-per-game ratio that was even better than the Spanish hitman. Luis Alberto Suarez Díaz was born in Salto, the second-largest populated city in Uruguay behind the capital, Montevideo. As a youngster he began his professional career with Nacional in Montevideo and helped them to win the Primera División in 2005/06 while still a teenager. Inevitably, as with many other promising players from South America, he came to the attention of a number of European clubs and this led to a move to Groningen in Holland when he was still only 19 years old. However, he only had one season in the Dutch Eredivisie at Groningen before big-city club Ajax signed him for seven and a half million euros in August 2007. Suarez's eighty-one goals from 110 League matches in three and a half seasons at Ajax was a rate that few strikers in world football could match. Inevitably, he was becoming a star on the international stage too, having made his full debut for Uruguay while still a Groningen player. The way Suarez performed in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa catapulted him to the watching world’s attention in a big way. He started all three group matches and scored the only goal of the final group match against Mexico that ensured Uruguay would top Group A. He then scored twice in a 3-0 victory over South Korea that led to a quarter-final with Ghana. Unfortunately, Suarez then received much negative publicity for a deliberate handball that led to a penalty (which was missed) and a red card that ruled him out of the World Cup semi-final with the Netherlands. After serving his one-match ban, he was recalled for the 3rd/4th place play-off in which Germany beat Uruguay by three goals to two.

Not long after he became one of only a handful of players to score a century of first-team goals for Ajax his club punished him with a two-match ban and a heavy fine after he had bitten PSV Eindhoven's Ottman Bakkal. The Dutch Football Association extended this ban to cover seven Eredivisie matches. This controversial incident led to much speculation that the Ajax captain's time in Holland was coming to an end. It did not, however, put off interest from several European clubs, all of whom realised that one piece of negativity regarding the player’s temperament did not change the fact that he had an outstanding goal-scoring record. Liverpool had scored only 31 times from their opening 24 League matches of the 2010/11 season. and obviously needed more firepower. Ajax were unimpressed by Liverpool’s initial offer but that offer was upped until it matched the selling club’s valuation of their star striker. Suarez had already proved that he could make the transition from one continent to another as a 19-year-old.

Luis was an instant hit at Anfield from the moment on his debut that he raced on to Dirk Kuyt's through ball, rounded Stoke 'keeper Begovic and carefully pushed the ball towards the empty Kop goal. Stoke defender Wilkinson's attempt to clear the ball only succeeded in diverting it onto a post, from where it rebounded into the net. So a little luck involved sure but definitely a Suarez goal and he had already shown in the brief time that he had been on the pitch that he was a confident and clever footballer. It was a shame that Suarez was not allowed to play in Europa League matches because his previous club Ajax were in the competition. Restricted to Premier League matches only, he scored four times in 13 games including a wonderful strike from an almost impossible angle at Sunderland. His performances in the convincing home win over Manchester United in March and in the away thrashing of Fulham in May were mesmeric. Suarez had a sensational Copa America in the summer of 2011. In six matches he had 16 shots at goal, eight on target and eight off target resulting in 4 goals, including the opening goal of the final against Paraguay. In comparison his strike partner Diego Forlan, eight years his senior, had 26 attempts at goal, 12 on and 14 off target scoring two goals, both in the final. Uruguay won the Copa America and Suarez was named the best player of the tournament.

The first full season in English football for Luis Suarez could hardly be described as trouble-free. Although his goals-per-game ratio was good (17 goals from 39 appearances) and his technical brilliance was there for all to see, he missed eight matches in the middle of the season after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during the Anfield League meeting in the middle of October. On being again available for selection and picked for the return fixture at Old Trafford, he was seen to avoid shaking Evra's hand and that inevitably led to more headlines and constant abuse from opposing supporters, not that it really affected the level of his performance. On some days he was practically unplayable but on others he seemed to spend a lot of time moaning and falling over. But the Good outweighed the Bad because of his close control and quick-footed brilliance, the sort of brilliance that enabled to score a number of stunning goals, especially the first of his League cup brace at Stoke in October and the third of his amazing hat-trick at Norwich in April. When Suarez returned to Melwood following Uruguay's elimination from the 2012 Olympic Games football tournament, he quickly signed a new long-term contract. Manager Brendan Rogers declared: "'I'm delighted that he has signed. I think he's one of the top strikers in world football." A hugely-productive club season for the Uruguayan (30 goals from 44 appearances in all competitions) was marred by the biting incident against Chelsea at Anfield in April. He was subsequently banned for ten matches, the last four fixtures of 2012/13 and the first six fixtures of 2013/14. Suarez became the first Liverpool player to score thirty goals in a season since Fernando Torres in 2007/08; and he moved on to fifty for the club when he netted in the home fixture against Tottenham Hotspur in March.

The Uruguayan magician wasted little time after he had served his ten-match ban. After missing the opening 5 Premier League matches he played in the remaining 33 and scored an astonishing 31 goals, a total that included hat-tricks against West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City and four against Norwich at Anfield. He would also score in the return fixture at Carrow Road in April to take his total against the East Anglian club to 12 in only 6 matches. His rehabilitation into the English game after two high-profile negative incidents was completed when he was named as the Football Writers' Player of the Year shortly after receiving a similar award from the Professional Footballers' Association. He ended the season with 82 Liverpool goals from 133 matches, scored 30 club goals for the second successive season. Suarez was involved in another high-profile biting incident during the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil, as a result of which he was quickly banned by FIFA from playing football for four months. The ban also included nine international matches. The incident with Giorgio Chiellini occurred in Uruguay's final group match against Italy in Natal five days after two fine goals had ended England's interest in the competition in São Paulo. Two days before the World Cup Final in Rio Liverpool agreed a transfer fee with Spanish giants Barcelona; £65million. He ended a memorable season at the Nou Camp by scoring in the 3-1 win over Juventus in the champions League final. Although Barcelona couldnt retain the Champions League trophy in 2015-16 it was still a sensational season for Suarez, who scored 40 goals in 35 games in the league and 8 from 9 in Europe. 

In 2016/17 Suarez continued to be a key part of Barca's team, scoring twice in the Copa del Rey final and surpassing 100 goals for the club. He helped them to La Liga in 2017/18 and earned his 100th cap for Uruguay in the World Cup. Suarez faced Liverpool in competitive action for the first time in the semi final of the Champions League in 2018/19. His celebrations on scoring the opening goal in the Nou Camp were not well received by Liverpool fans and when he did some theatrical diving in the return leg much of the crowd turned against him. He would later describe the Liverpool's 4-0 victory which overturned the 3-0 first leg deficit as one of the worst moments of his life. 

By the end of 2019/20 Suarez was the third highest scorer in Barcelona's history. He was 33 years old and after a proposed move to Juventus broke down, he signed for Atletico Madrid on 25 September 2020, agreeing a two-year deal. He showed no signs of slowing down, scoring 21 times as Atletico finished the season as La Liga champions. He was back at Anfield in an group stage game in November 2021, where the reaction was far less hostile than it has been two years earlier, but still not the warm one usually reserved for ex-Reds players. After eleven goals from 35 appearances in La Liga, his contract was not renewed and Suarez expressed a desire to stay in Europe for longer. However, at the end of July 2022 the lure of a return to Uruguay with his first club Nacional was too much to resist and he penned a six month deal. It ended with Nacional winning the championship, ironically beating Montevideo side Liverpool 4-1 in the defining game. At the World Cup, he played in all three of Uruguay's games but they failed to make it out of the group stages. At the end of December 2022, he agreed a deal with Brazilian side Gremio and scored seventeen goals in 33 games helping them to a second place finish in Brazil' Serie A. In December 2023 he joined MLS side Inter Miami. 
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 110 9 6 8 0 133
2010-2011 13 0 0 0 0 13
2011-2012 31 4 4 0 0 39
2012-2013 33 2 1 8 0 44
2013-2014 33 3 1 0 0 37
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
8 645 Arsenal
7 630 Chelsea
7 629 Manchester United
7 621 WBA
7 614 Sunderland
7 565 Stoke City
7 544 Tottenham
6 540 Everton
6 540 Manchester City
6 535 Norwich City
6 524 Aston Villa
6 482 Swansea City
5 450 Fulham
5 447 Newcastle United
5 444 Wigan Athletic
4 360 West Ham United
3 300 Cardiff City
3 270 Southampton
3 262 QPR
2 180 Crystal Palace
2 180 Reading
2 180 Hull City
2 180 Zenit St. Petersburg
2 165 Brighton & Hove Albion
2 115 Udinese
2 105 Oldham Athletic
1 90 Blackburn Rovers
1 90 Gomel
1 90 Anzhi Makhachkala
1 90 Hearts
1 90 Bournemouth
1 90 Birmingham City
1 81 Wolves
1 77 Bolton Wanderers
1 59 Exeter City
1 35 Mansfield Town
1 30 Young Boys
Total Started/substitutions
125 Started
3 On the bench
8 Substitute
22 Substituted
Total Venue
66 Home
64 Away
3 Neutral
Total Competition
110 Premier League
9 FA Cup
8 Europa League
6 League Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
81 42 19 20 51.9% Brendan Rodgers
52 25 11 16 48.1% Kenny Dalglish
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 69 5 4 4 0 82
2010-2011 4 0 0 0 0 4
2011-2012 11 3 3 0 0 17
2012-2013 23 2 1 4 0 30
2013-2014 31 0 0 0 0 31
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 23 2 3 1 0 29
2010-2011 3 0 0 0 0 3
2011-2012 3 0 3 0 0 6
2012-2013 5 0 0 1 0 6
2013-2014 12 2 0 0 0 14
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 02.02.2011 Stoke City Anfield League
50 05.05.2012 Chelsea Wembley FA Cup
100 19.10.2013 Newcastle United St James' Park League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 79 02.02.2011 Stoke City Anfield League
50 21 10.03.2013 Tottenham Anfield League
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Related Quotes

"I think that every defender in England hates playing against him. He has a strong, provocative personality. From the information I gathered on him it appears that on a day-to-day level he is really easy to work with. Also that he’s respectful, he loves training, he’s an angel. He turns into a demon when he’s on the pitch. We all dream about having players like that.“

Arséne Wenger on French TV show Telefoot on Luis Suarez in December 2013

"Just got back from Anfield I've just witnessed 1 of the best individual displays I've ever seen in 35 years of watchin LFC #Suarez."

Lastofadyingbreed ‏@lastofadying112h on Twitter

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Nacional 2005-2006 Uruguay 1 27 10 34 12
Groningen 2006-2007 Netherlands 1 29 10 31 10
Ajax 2007-2008 Netherlands 1 33 17 37 18
Ajax 2008-2009 Netherlands 1 31 22 41 27
Ajax 2009-2010 Netherlands 1 33 35 42 41
Ajax 2010-2011 Netherlands 1 13 7 22 11
Barcelona 2014-2015 Spain 1 27 16 45 23
Barcelona 2015-2016 Spain 1 35 40 58 54
Barcelona 2016-2017 Spain 1 35 29 51 37
Barcelona 2017-2018 Spain 1 33 25 52 30
Barcelona 2018-2019 Spain 1 33 21 49 25
Barcelona 2019-2020 Spain 1 28 16 36 21
Atletico Madrid 2020-2021 Spain 1 32 21 38 21
Atletico Madrid 2021-2022 Spain 1 35 11 45 13
Nacional 2022-2023 Uruguay 1 14 9 16 9
Total 438 289 597 352