Barcelona buy World Cup biter Suarez

BARCELONA - Barcelona announced Friday they have struck a deal to buy Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez from Liverpool, sealing the transfer despite an uproar over him biting a World Cup rival.

Despite the furore that saw him sent home from the World Cup, Barcelona pushed ahead to sign the 27-year-old goalscorer reportedly on condition he apologise for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.

"FC Barcelona and Liverpool FC have reached an agreement for the transfer of Luis Suarez," the Spanish club said in a statement on Friday.

The two clubs gave no details of the fee.

The player said a sad farewell to fans of the English club, whom he helped fire to second place in the Premier League last season, sending them into the Champions League.

"It is with a heavy heart that I leave Liverpool for a new life and new challenges in Spain," he said in a statement published by Liverpool.

"This club did all they could to get me to stay, but playing and living in Spain, where my wife's family live, is a lifelong dream and ambition. I believe now the timing is right."

The Spanish side said Suarez "will be travelling to Barcelona next week for a medical, to sign his five-year contract and to be officially presented to the media and fans as an FC Barcelona player."

Prolific scorer

Barca's new coach Luis Enrique is overhauling the squad after a disappointing season in which they narrowly failed to defend their Spanish league title.

Barcelona were seduced by the goalscoring record of Suarez, who was the top scorer in England's Premier League last season with 31 goals.

"Luis Suarez is one of the most productive strikers in European football," the club said.

"The fifteenth Uruguayan to play for FC Barcelona is not just a prolific scorer, he also has a strong competitive spirit and a powerful figure, and he's coming to Barca in search of even more."

Suarez bit Chiellini on June 24 in a 1-0 win over Italy which took Uruguay into the World Cup last 16 before they were knocked out by Colombia.

He was handed a four-month ban from all football activities, suspended from nine international matches and fined 100,000 Swiss francs ($112,000).

It was the third time in his career he had been found guilty of biting an opponent.

He apologised for the bite in a Twitter message on June 30.

FIFA on Thursday dismissed appeals by Uruguay and Suarez over the ban but said he could still appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

If FIFA's ban is upheld, Suarez will not play football again until late October, well after the Spanish league restarts.

Barcelona on Thursday completed the sale of Chile's World Cup star Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal.

Suarez's signing furnishes the Catalan club with one of the most formidable strike forces in the world as he joins two other superstar forwards -- Argentina's Lionel Messi and Brazil's Neymar.

Barcelona have said goodbye to stalwarts such as Carles Puyol, goalkeeper Victor Valdes and midfielder Cesc Fabregas who has gone to Chelsea, and have made a series of new signings.

These include two new goalkeepers, Claudio Bravo and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, and Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

Five facts on Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez

-- Suarez received a nine-game international match suspension and a four-month ban from all football activity for biting the shoulder of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during their group game at the World Cup finals. He denied it before apologising although Barcelona are believed to have put pressure on him to do so if they were to pursue their interest in him. Chiellini said it was water under the bridge and even said the striker's punishment was too harsh but it fell on deaf ears at FIFA.

-- Suarez was dubbed 'the cannibal of Ajax' after he bit PSV Einhoven's Otman Bakkal shoulder in a Dutch league game in November 2010, months after a controversial handball at the World Cup. The referee did not immediately see the incident, but Suarez was later handed a seven-game ban. In April 2013, Suarez bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic's arm in a Premier League game for Liverpool. He was given a 10-game suspension for that offence.

-- The Uruguayan, considered one of the world's most devastating goalscorers, has also been in trouble over on the field comments. He hurled racial abuse at Manchester United's Patrice Evra during a Premier League game in October 2011. Suarez insisted the term he used was one often deployed in Uruguay. The English FA banned him for eight matches and fined him £40,000 ($68,000). He refused to shake hands with Evra when the two teams met later that season.

-- Suarez stopped a certain Ghanaian goal with his hand on the goalline in the last minute of extra-time in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final. He was sent off but Asamoah Gyan's penalty was saved and the Ghanaians went on to lose the penalty shootout. "I made the save of the tournament," was Suarez's unrepentant comment after the match.

-- Suarez appeared to have got over his past controversies this year at Liverpool. He scored 31 goals in the English Premier League in 2013-14 and was named player of the season by the Professional Footballers Association. Also scored two goals against England in their World Cup group game just weeks after undergoing knee surgery.