Luis Suarez was perfect player at Liverpool, says Barcelona president

Luis Suarez was the perfect player at Liverpool and does not have a “no biting clause” in his Barcelona contract, according to the club’s president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The Uruguay international completed a £75m move to the Catalan side last month despite being banned from all football-related activity for four months after biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

If the clause did exist we wouldn’t say it, but it doesn’t exist

Josep Maria Bartomeu

Suarez issued a hasty apology in order to keep his move to Barcelona alive, but president Bartomeu has rubbished reports the 27-year-old’s deal with the club includes a “no biting clause”.

“No, there is no clause,” Bartmeu told CNN as Suarez hopes his ban will be reduced subject to an appeal lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “If the clause did exist we wouldn’t say it, but it doesn’t exist.”

Suarez was a controversial figure at Liverpool, serving lengthy bans for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra and biting Chelsea centre-half Branislav Ivanovic.

However, Barcelona president Bartomeu is confident manager Luis Enrique will be able to control the Uruguay international.

“No, no. We didn’t rethink this decision and we told Luis after the bite. He knows he did wrong,” added Bartomeu.

“He apologized. That’s very important for us. That means he knows that he did not do things properly — and of course, coming to our city, coming to our club, there’s going to be a way of managing Luis Suarez, because at Liverpool he was a perfect player. Liverpool fans can tell it, supporters can tell it.”