Luis Suarez revealed that Real Madrid also expressed interest in acquiring him during the summer before eventually deciding to move to FC Barcelona from Liverpool.
Suarez said in an interview that there were talks between Liverpool and Real Madrid about a possible deal, but the negotiations did not materialize.
And when talks went down, Suarez said that he had a sigh of relief after his agent told him that they have already finalized a deal that would bring him to FC Barcelona, saying that he cried because he thought his career would take a downward spiral after he bit Giorgio Chiellini during a World Cup match.
"There were conversations with Real Madrid, although at no point did I ever feel close to joining them," Suarez said via Football Espana. "However, when my agent Pere Guardiola rang to tell me the Barca deal was done I began to cry, because after what happened with Chiellini I thought it was all going to fall through."
Most analysts predicted that teams will hesitate to strike a deal with Suarez after he was suspended by FIFA for his undesirable behavior during the World Cup match between Italy and Uruguay. But Barcelona took a gamble, and Suarez said that he is grateful to Barca for making him feel that he deserves another chance.
Suarez scored 31 goals in 33 Barclays Premier League matches with Liverpool last season, but has not yet netted one in his first two games with Barca. To make the matter worst, Barcelona lost in their first two games with Suarez, but the Uruguay international is not worried about the criticisms against him and their team.
"We all know the demands of a big club and it's normal we get criticized after two defeats, but we can turn things around," Suarez added via EuroSport. "It's hard to take a loss but now we need to forget about it. Football gives you the opportunity for revenge and we must trust in ourselves."
As for his relationship with Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, Suarez said that he is getting along with the Argentine superstar because they have a lot of things in common.
"My relationship with Messi is good," Suarez said via Daily Mail. "He's an Argentinean, so we got on very well from the beginning. He drinks mate as we do in Uruguay and all that."