'Messi tried to make life easy for Barcelona' - Suarez defends former team-mate over contract controversy

• Messi's contract demands at Barcelona leaked
• Suarez defended former team-mate
• Duo both left Barca one year apart

WHAT HAPPENED? Spanish news outlet El Mundo revealed information which they claim was in the demands of Lionel Messi's contract before he left Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2021. One of the demands was that his family, as well as Luis Suarez's family were allowed to share a box at the Camp Nou, and Suarez has defended his former team-mate regarding the alleged demand.

WHAT HE SAID: Speaking to Marca, Suarez said: "It amuses me. It is something very normal in any player. If you check the contracts of any elite footballer, they should all have their box. I, for example, at Atletico Madrid, had mine; in Nacional, too... That's why all this speculation amuses me. Actually, Leo's thing was to try to make life easier for the club because, being shared by our two families, it was just a box. It was more difficult for Barca if Suarez had one and Messi had another [laughs]."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Luis Suarez left Barcelona a year before Messi, after falling out of favour with boss Ronald Koeman. Suarez was open with Marca and admitted out of respect he would greet Koeman if they met privately, and hoped the Dutchman would tell him why moved him on.

IN THREE PICTURES:

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WHAT NEXT FOR MESSI AND SUAREZ? The ex-Barca duo are both out of contracts at their respective clubs at the end of their domestic seasons and both have been linked with moves to America and MLS. Suarez admitted he was considering the US as a next step in his career path saying: "[MLS] is one of the options that I see very close, but now I do not think about it. I think and enjoy Nacional."