“It will take a miracle” to stop Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi reunion at Inter Miami according to Gremio boss
Gremio boss Renato Gaucho has conceded that it will take a miracle for the club to keep hold of Luis Suarez amid reports of a move to Inter Miami.
The former Barcelona striker joined Gremio on a two-year deal in 2022, having spent a short spell with Nacional in his native Uruguay following his departure from Atletico Madrid. With the Brazilian season following the calendar year, rather than the European schedule, Suarez’s first campaign is nearing its close.
With six games left to play in the Brazilian Serie A, Gremio are just three points behind leaders Botafogo in the race for the title, though they have played two games more.
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Across 27 league appearances for Gremio, Suarez has been directly involved in more goals than any other player across the Brazilian Serie A (21). But it’s not in the way you might expect. Suarez has scored 11 goals in the league, with four players netting more, but leads the way on 10 assists.
But his Gremio future is in doubt. After netting the winner in Gremio’s 1-0 win over Bahia at the weekend, Suarez was urged by his fans to stay at the club. That’s because in the summer, Suarez revealed that his contract had been cut to just one year, meaning it will run out at the end of the current campaign due to knee issues.
However, at the same time, Suarez was being linked with a move to MLS to link up with former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. According to reports, Suarez was set to join Inter Miami but couldn’t due to his contract with Gremio, so the news went dead for a bit.
Reports resurfaced last month when Tata Martino confirmed that Inter Miami would be going back in for Suarez, saying: “Within our analysis of the upcoming season, and the needs we may have, we have an analysis with Luis and an analysis without Luis.
“When the moment arrives to make Suárez’s situation with respect to Inter Miami official, we’ll be prepared to go in the corresponding direction.”
Further reports claim that Suarez is set to join Inter Miami, and Gremio boss Renato concedes the Uruguayan’s future appears to be elsewhere.
“It will take a miracle [for Suarez to stay],” Gremio boss Renato told reporters when asked about Suarez’s future.
“He already has plans for 2024. He made that clear a few months ago and I’m not expecting a miracle. It’s his decision.
“I’d like him to stay, but we have to be honest with our fans. If he ends up staying, it’ll be a miracle, and that miracle comes down to him.”
During his six-year stay with Barcelona, Suarez shared the pitch 258 times with Messi, more than any other player in his career. During that time, Suarez scored 170 goals while Messi netted 236, with the pair directly combining for 87.
While many would expect a large portion of those goals to be Messi setting up Suarez, it was in fact the other way around.
Of their 87 direct goal combinations, Suarez set Messi up 48 times, including all three when Messi netted hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Deportivo in April 2018. At the same time, Messi still managed to set up Suarez 39 times, proving there is something special about this partnership.
