Tuesday, 19th August, 2014
Barcelona insist they paid just €81m (£65m) to sign Luis Suarez from Liverpool, not the £75m which has been claimed in England.
Suarez has today been presented as a Barcelona player after turning out in a friendly for the club against Club Leon in the Joan Gamper Trophy last night.
It had been claimed that Liverpool banked £75m for the Uruguayan, who scored 31 goals in the Premier League last season, but not so says Barcelona vice-president Jordi Mestre.
"Suarez cost €81m", Mestre told a press conference, also confirming the striker's buy-out clause is €200m.
"Talks started before the World Cup, with hard work done to reach €81m. We had originally been quoted €90m."
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Mestre also claims that Suarez could have earned more had he chosen to head elsewhere, but Barcelona were the player's preferred club.
"He had offers that were better than ours was financially, but he wanted Barcelona.
"He made a big effort on a financial and personal side to be here."
Suarez could make his official Barcelona debut against Real Madrid towards the end of October in La Liga's first El Clasico of the season.
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