Koeman: I'm not 'the villain' responsible for Suarez’s Barca exit

Ronald Koeman insists he is not ‘the villain’ behind Luis Suarez’s exit, insisting the decision to offload the striker was made before he became Barcelona manager.

Only a month has passed by since Koeman replaced Quique Setien as Barcelona coach, yet controversy has been a near-constant from the word ‘go’.

The former Netherlands boss’ dream job nearly became his worst nightmare when Lionel Messi handed in a transfer request. And while Barca narrowly dodged that bullet for this summer, their decisions continue to leave fans flabbergasted.

The most recent one is offloading Suarez to LaLiga rivals Atletico Madrid after reports emerged claiming Koeman told the striker he has no future at Camp Nou.

Not only did the club’s decision to part with Suarez, who managed 195 goals and 113 assists in 283 appearances, leave fans appalled. But left Messi very unimpressed, with the skipper aiming another dig at the board on Friday.

Hoy ha sido un día repleto de emociones para mi y espero seguir ayudando al @Atleti a seguir coronando montañas. #PartidoAPartido pic.twitter.com/T3ghpaE89r

— Luis Suarez (@LuisSuarez9) September 25, 2020

Contrary to recent rumors, however, Koeman insisted in a press conference on Saturday that he is not ‘the villain’ that everyone has made him out to be in the Suarez saga.

“It seems that I’m the bad guy in the film, but it’s not like that,” said the Blaugrana coach as quoted on Diario Sport.

“From the first day, since the call, I’ve shown respect for the player and the person that he is. He has trained to the max while he’s been here. I always told him that he would find it tough to play but if he stayed he would be one of the squad.”

Koeman added: “It’s a club decision. Before signing my contract the club had decided to change things and I backed this decision.

“It’s not just a decision of mine as the coach, but they have tried to change the team and now there are a lot of young people here. Luis and I respect each other and spoke openly about the future. Now he’s got the chance to go to a club like Atletico, I wish him all the luck in the world.”

Suarez could make his Atletico debut on Sunday afternoon’s match against Granada in LaLiga.