Koeman opens door to Suarez staying at Barca

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has said Luis Suarez will be treated like any other player if he ends up staying at the club this season, despite leaving the Uruguayan striker out of the squad for the second match in a row.

Suarez, Barca’s third top scorer of all time, has one year left on his contract, was omitted from the squad for Wednesday’s 3-1 friendly win over Girona.

One of Koeman’s first acts as Barca coach was to tell Suarez he was no longer wanted but offloading the 33-year-old is proving difficult.

Reports in Italy say a planned move to Juventus is off, and with so many clubs reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, few could afford to pay his salary.

“I’ve spoken to him about his future and we are waiting to see whether or not he leaves, we still don’t know,” Koeman told Catalan network TV3 after the win over Girona.

“But we respect every contract here and if in the end he does not find a club and he stays, he will be just like any other player in the squad.”