Harry Watkinson
Luis Suarez: Could he still do it in the Premier League?
Luis Suarez is set to leave Atletico Madrid this summer after a successful two-year spell at the club and Aston Villa are among the favourites to sign him. But at the age of 34, could he still produce the goods in the Premier League?
This article breaks down his stats from the 2021-22 season, looking at his performance in La Liga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.
He may not be the player he was at Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers, but the striker seems to have plenty more left in the tank.
La Liga:
Suarez’s performance in the league has been impressive for a 35-year-old, netting 11 times in 35 appearances, despite in the majority of matches being brought on as a substitute.
Averaging a goal every 167 minutes, if he can bring those kinds of numbers to Aston Villa he could be a real asset for Steven Gerrard next season, even just as a super-sub.
However, it’s true that he did seem to go missing in some of his outings, with an average match rating of just 6.54 his inconsistency is a large part of the reason that Diego Simeone did not choose to extend his contract by another year.
He was admittedly competing with the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Joao Felix and Matheus de Cunha for playing time, so one would think that he will be higher up the pecking order at Villa if he joins them, where he’d be competing with Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins.
Another obvious concern for a 35-year-old player is injuries – how many games is he going to miss? Surprisingly though, 2021-22 was one of the least injury-disrupted seasons of Suarez’s career, missing only 14 days across the season, just two matches in total.
He also didn’t get any red cards or bite anyone last season, not even one nibble, so perhaps he’s matured past that now, but he still has the aggression that makes him statistically one of the best strikers in history.
He has now scored over 500 goals in his career, only the fifth active player to reach the landmark and I think there should be a couple of decent seasons left in the tank too.
Played: 35
Assists: 3
Goals: 11
Minutes played: 1,834’
Minutes per goal: 167’
Goals per game: 0.31
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Champions League:
Suarez has a reputation for being a bit of a big game player but he actually struggled in the Champions League in 2021-22, scoring just once in seven outings, although he only started two of those games.
In typical Suarez style though, his one goal was a big one – a 96th-minute winner against AC Milan with a cheeky Panenka penalty to give Atletico a big group stage win in the competition.
Other than that though, you’ve got to say the Uruguayan didn’t do a whole lot. But, I don’t think there’s much risk of him playing much in the Champions League with Villa, so I don’t think Gerrard will be too worried about that.
He still managed to win a Champions League with Barcelona in 2015 though, so he’s probably pretty happy with how he’s played in the competition overall.
Played: 7
Assists: 0
Goals: 1
Minutes played: 348’
Goals per game: 0.14
Copa del Rey:
Finally, Suarez played just two matches in the Copa del Rey in 2021-22, but this is largely down to them only reaching the Round of 16 after being knocked out by Real Sociedad.
He scored one goal in a 5-0 win over Spanish second-tier side Rayo Majadahonda, but that was the extent of his contributions. Villa fans will hope he can be more successful in domestic cup competitions if he joins them though, given that is the most likely way they’ll have any chance of silverware next season.
Played: 2
Assists: 0
Goals: 1
Minutes played: 91’
Goals per game: 0.5
Overall, Luis Suarez ends his career in Spain as a serial winner: Five La Liga titles, a Champions League, five Copa del Rey winner’s medals, a UEFA Super Cup, a Club World Cup and two Supercopa de Espanas: there are not many players who have achieved that much and that’s without including his time at Liverpool and Ajax.
You’d imagine with a record like that one of the biggest things the Uruguayan could bring to Villa is his winning mentality and I’m sure he’d be a fantastic role model for younger players at the club to look up to.
Can they get the deal done? Suarez is currently 3/1 to join Villa this summer, joint-favourites with Argentinian club River Plate. A Gerrard and Suarez reunion could potentially be huge for the Clarets if Suarez can stay fit.
