Luis Suarez In Liverpool Was Bigger Than Lionel Messi, Former Teammate Claims

A former Liverpool defender claims Luis Suarez was once a bigger star than Lionel Messi in Anfield.

Premier League giant Liverpool FC has housed an array of talented strikers. The Reds are now being led by the dynamic duo of Sadio Mane and incredible goal scorer Mohamed Salah. However, for Liverpool legend Jose Enrique, there was a time in Anfield when Suarez was the greatest.

In a recent interview with Tribuna (via Goal.com), Enrique recalled some of the most memorable experiences he had with the Reds. During his time with Liverpool, Enrique played alongside a prime Suarez. This happened before the Uruguayan moved to Barcelona in 2014, a deal that made him one of the most expensive players in history of soccer.

According to Enrique, Suarez was the best player he has ever seen in a Liverpool shirt. However, playing for a stronger team like Barcelona was Suarez’s dream at the time. The 34-year-old revealed that he and Suarez had a great relationship even after the latter left for Barca. In fact, Enrique said that they have talked about something he didn’t want to disclose after watching a Barcelona game once.

“This is my own opinion of course, this is not coming from him. Barcelona was his dream and he left Liverpool because Barca was in a better position than Liverpool at that time, that was a reality,” Enrique said.

“Liverpool weren’t winning trophies and Barcelona was one of the best teams in the world. But I’ve been invited to watch him play at Barca and we had some conversations that I’m not going to talk about,” he continued.

Enrique also recalled witnessing how Liverpool fans adored Suarez like a true hero. He even suggested that at the time, Suarez was bigger than Messi.

“And I remember him playing at Anfield, fans singing his name for 80 minutes. He doesn’t have this in Barcelona, not even Messi has it. They might sing to Leo two or three times during games and he’s the best player in history!” Enrique recalled.

Suarez admitted in an interview with Jamie Carragher in March that he left Liverpool because he knew he has a better chance of winning at Barcelona. “If Liverpool are not in the Champions League, it is difficult to get the best players to come to the club. That's why for me to come to Barcelona there had to be that opportunity to not just play the tournament but to win it," he said.