Luis Suarez's future to be decided in June

Wants to go to World Cup as an Atleti player

Posted Sunday, January 30, 2022 by Marca.com

One of the big decisions that will have to be made at Atletico Madrid in the coming months concerns the future of Luis Suarez. His contract is expiring, yet there will be talks over a possible renewal.

If Uruguay seal qualification for the Qatar World Cup, Suarez wants to stay at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano for another season in order to arrive at that tournament in the best possible condition.

Atletico, meanwhile, aren't willing to commit to that until the summer, as they want to wait to see how Suarez does over the final months of 2021/22. Diego Simeone has explained this to the player.

Unless Suarez can put together a great scoring run over the second half of the campaign, it is expected that he'll leave the club in the summer. But, Atleti want to keep the option of him staying, not least because they need the centre-forward committed and motivated over these coming months.

In terms of who could replace Suarez if he does leave in the summer, the Dusan Vlahovic option has already been removed, with the Serbian joining Juventus. Other candidates include Darwin Nunez and Lucas Boye, with other names sure to be added to that list once the summer comes and if Suarez does depart.