Former Ghanaian attacker, Kevin-Prince Boateng, has disclosed that he had an acrimonious relationship with Uruguayan striker, Luis Suarez, when he joined Spanish giants FC Barcelona in January 2019.
He explained that he was signed to support Suarez, who was struggling with injuries at the time in the striking position.
However, the Uruguayan striker did not talk to him for a month while they were in camp training, which surprised him a lot.
“I trained really well because you can only train well with these players. So, they said, ‘okay, you can play.’ But this guy never came around, and we didn’t have a good relationship. For the first month, he didn’t even say hello to me. It sounds weird, but that’s just how it was,” he said while speaking on the Vibe with the Five podcast *(PLEASE INSERT DATE)*.
He further revealed that his performances during training sessions impressed the coaching staff led by Ernesto Valverde at the time and wanted to give him playing time.
However, according to the former Black Stars forward, Suarez refused to be substituted by him even when he had sustained an injury and was limping in the game.
“He had some knee problems, so they didn’t know if he could play every game. Whenever he wasn’t ready, I was supposed to play, but it didn’t work out. At that time, I think he didn’t want to come off the pitch ever. He didn’t want to come off.
“He wasn’t playing well. This is Barcelona, and you’re Luis Suarez – one of the best strikers in the world in the last 20 years. You have to be honest. He wasn’t playing well, he was limping, but he didn’t come off. I was sitting on the bench, but he wouldn’t budge. He would continue to play,” he added.
SB/VPO
Watch Prince Boatebg’s remarks below:
@cheekysport Luis Suarez was SELFISH and didn’t talk to Prince Boateng at BARCELONA 😳 Cc: @Rio Ferdinand Presents #barcelona #fcb #realmadrid #luissuarez #intermiamicf ♬ original sound – Joel Beya
Meanwhile, watch the latest edition of Sports Check with former Hearts of Oak midfielder Frederick Ansah Botchway