Is Luis Suarez Delivering Value on Barcelona's £75M Outlay?

A lot of things were said when Barcelona spent £75 million on Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. And a fair share of them were not positive.

There were pointed questions. Where would he fit in the team? With two star forwards vying for position, in Lionel Messi and the pretender, Neymar, how could you throw a third into the mix?

Would Suarez self-destruct and sabotage Barcelona's efforts? A ball of aggression who has bitten three players and racially abused a fourth surely couldn't be trusted.

And to pay such a fee for him raised eyebrows too. If you have a striker who doesn't have a clear place in the team and a propensity to explode, do you really want to make him the most expensive player in your club's history?

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

For a few months, it seemed like a mistake. It wasn't until January 2015 that Suarez seemed to be clicking with Neymar and Messi.

In the Champions League match against Ajax in November 2014, Messi told Suarez to stay in the middle and that he would play on the right after a few games in which the Uruguayan was on the flank, as noted by Richard Martin for the Telegraph.

That was the start of the change, and it picked up speed in January with an explosive victory over Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou and hasn't let up since.

In the 100 games Luis Enrique has been in charge at Barcelona, Suarez has been his third most used player, behind Messi and Neymar.

Suarez has played 6,623 minutes, accumulating 61 goals and 32 assists, the latest strike coming on Sunday to seal Barcelona's win over Levante at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium.

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

Only Messi has more, with 82 and 37 respectively, while Neymar is on 60 and 23.

The next closest player is Ivan Rakitic, with 12 goals and 12 assists, showing statistically how Suarez has instantly become one of the three most crucial players at the club when it comes to goal creation and conversion.

Suarez's main impact has been turning Barcelona's previously impressive attack into an unstoppable one.

Defenders were struggling with Messi and Neymar, but with all three forwards in action, they are completely lost at sea.

Gary Neville and Valencia were the latest team to drown in Barcelona's flood of goals, with Suarez netting four in a 7-0 win in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg last week.

David Ramos/Getty Images

That was the largest number Suarez has netted in any single game, although he has scored four hat-tricks as well.

However, the Uruguay international has also scored some goals which were completely crucial to Barcelona's success last season.

The club won the treble, augmenting that with the UEFA Super Cup and then the FIFA Club World Cup, success not seen since Pep Guardiola won the sextuple in 2009.

Suarez scored the goal which many argue won Barcelona the league—the decider against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou—putting his side four points clear of Los Blancos with 10 games left.

Barcelona did not let it slip, partly thanks to the eight goals Suarez scored in the eight league games he played in after that.

TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/Getty Images

And most crucially of all, he scored the goal which sent Barcelona ahead of Juventus, when the score was poised at 1-1 in the Champions League final. Messi's low strike was rebuffed by Gianluigi Buffon, but Suarez darted in first and rifled home.

In football terms, Suarez has more than earned back his fee already, showing Barcelona invested wisely. And it would not be surprising if he has earned Barcelona money off the field too.

As well as replica-shirt sales, his goals that made Barcelona world champions—he notched five of their six at the Club World Cup in Japan—may well serve to earn them a huge rise on their sponsorship deals.

Barcelona are Europe’s dominant football team, with Suarez a big part of making that happen, and they will likely receive a jumbo shirt endorsement deal. He’s paying for himself in more ways than one.