Luis Suarez Completes Transfer from Barcelona to Atletico Madrid

Luis Suarez is officially a member of Atletico Madrid. 

Barcelona announced Wednesday that the star striker had been sold to their La Liga rivals, with Atletico paying the Catalan side "six million euros in variables."

The club said in its statement, "FC Barcelona would like to publicly express their gratitude to Luis Suárez for his commitment and dedication and wishes him all the best for the future."

Suarez, 33, spent six seasons with Barcelona, winning four La Liga titles and one Champions League title in his time at the club. He scored 198 goals in 283 total appearances—only Lionel Messi (634) and Cesar (232) have scored more for the club—while adding 97 assists. 

His pairing with Messi has helped the Blaugrana boast one of the most fearsome front lines in football. While Antoine Griezmann never settled into life in that front three as seamlessly as Neymar had before his departure for PSG, Suarez's clinical finishing and underrated playmaking helped lead the line to consistent success. 

But with Barcelona clearly turning over the club in an effort to move on from its veteran core with an eye to the future—one would imagine this is Messi's final year at the club after this summer's row—Suarez was always one of the players likely to be sold off. 

Suarez is hardly dead weight at this point. While his 16 goals were his fewest since he debuted for the team in the 2014-15 season, he posted them in 22 starts and 28 total appearances, a clinical tally. A knee injury in January threatened his season, though the eventual delay due to COVID-19 allowed him to return during the summer's restart. 

With Atletico, he'll join an attacking force that already includes Diego Costa at striker. He's essentially replacing Alvaro Morata, who left on loan to Juventus.