Former Barcelona goalkeeper, Andoni Zubizarreta has revealed how the Catalan club first tried to sign Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero and failed, before opting for former Liverpool marksman, Luis Suarez.
Zubuzaretta, who also held a directorial position at the club, told Spanish sport paper, Marca: “We had several options. Suárez wasn’t the first choice – he knows as much. In the winter we tried to sign Agüero, but it didn’t work out.”
He said Suarez then became the club’s only target the next summer.
“The Chiellini incident [Suárez’s bite on the Italy defender] happened while the negotiations were ongoing. That business put off many of the clubs who were interested in him; there were question marks over his character and how serious his punishment would be. I felt it was the right time to step up our efforts to sign him,” he added.
Stating why he was convinced that Suarez was the best for the club, he noted explained: “I liked everything about him: he wasn’t static, he could run the channels and he gave us something that we were lacking. There was another key factor: from the beginning he was totally desperate to join Barça.”