Gallardo’s River shakes up South American football with the imminent arrival of Luis Suárez: “He has desire and enthusiasm”

Closer and closer. Luis Suarez’s arrival at River Plate seems imminent. Despite the fact that at first it was thought to be an unlikely rumor, the negotiations have advanced and the gunslinger is about to be the commercial bomb of South American football. The Uruguayan is in Ibiza on vacation, but in Paulo Díaz’s squad they are optimistic.

Marcelo Gallardo, technician of the millionaires, spoke this weekend with the Argentinian media and assured that the disposition exists of both parties: “Whether he’s there or not, we tried, he has the desire, the enthusiasm, he’s good. If he hadn’t shown this, we wouldn’t have waited,” Doll said.

The striker is recovering from an injury. This is the reason for the delay, according to what the strategist said. “Our expectation is based on his times, if he were to play tomorrow it would be faster. In this case, it’s linked to his recovery,” he added.

At River, they don’t put pressure on Suárez. As an elite footballer, they prefer to please him with the times he asks for. Also, as Gallardo explains, if they announced his signing, he wouldn’t reach the Copa Libertadores Round of 16, his big goal for the semester.

Despite the fact that a few days ago it was speculated that the operation was down and that the Uruguayan could end up at Ajax in the Netherlands, the words of the Argentine coach show how the negotiation with River Plate is advanced.

Thus, Luis Suárez will return to this part of the world after 16 years in Europe. The native of Salto made his debut for Nacional de Montevideo in 2005, he only stayed one year in football in his country and went to Groningen. His performance allowed Ajax Amsterdam to sign him at just 20 years old.

After winning the 2011 Copa América with the Uruguayan national team, the gunner signed for Liverpool, where he was very close to winning the Premier League. He couldn’t, however, the titles would come in a big way in his time at Barcelona. After winning everything, the culé team let him go and he ended up at Atlético de Madrid, where he would win the 2020-21 La Liga.

With Suárez back in South America, River Plate are doing everything for the Copa Libertadores, which they haven’t done since 2018, when they beat Boca Juniors in the definition. Since then, the Gallardo-led cast lost one final, then remained in the semi-finals and in the last one reached the top-eight round.