Montevideo (AFP) – Luis Suarez has signed a short-term contract to rejoin his boyhood club Nacional in Uruguay ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, the club’s president said on Wednesday.
Suarez revealed on social media on Tuesday that he had a preliminary agreement to return the outfit where he started his career and on Wednesday, Nacional president Jose Fuentes told Sport 890 radio station that the 35-year-old star has signed a five-month contract.
Suarez and the club president both said on Tuesday that some details still needed to be ironed out but Fuentes told Sport 890: “It’s already done, it’s already resolved.”
The former Liverpool and Barcelona star is Uruguay’s all-time top goalscorer and set to compete at his fourth World Cup later this year.
Fuentes said Suarez should arrive in Uruguay this weekend and could make his debut as early as Tuesday in the Copa Sudamericana — South America’s equivalent to the Europa League — against Brazilians Atletico Goianiense.
Suarez, who left Atletico Madrid at the end of last season and still lives in Spain, began his career at Nacional, making his debut aged 18 in May 2005.
After one full season he moved to Groningen in the Netherlands and then on to Ajax a year later.
There he caught the eye of Liverpool and after three and a half seasons in England he moved to Barcelona for a fee worth more than 80 million euros.
He enjoyed his most successful spell in Catalonia, winning four Spanish league titles and the Champions League in 2015, while he won La Liga again with Atletico in 2021.
