Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is weighing up an emotional return to his former club Nacional in Uruguay.
The veteran Uruguayan striker – who has been linked to multiple clubs in this summer transfer window as a free agent – remains synonymous in English football with his three-and-a-half year spell at the Reds between 2011 and 2014, in which he bagged 82 goals in 133 appearances before moving on to Barcelona.
Suarez left Atletico Madrid at the end of the campaign after two seasons. His goals helped fire Diego Simeone's side to the league title in his first season at the club – netting 21 times to secure Atleti's first league title in seven years – but struggled to replicate that form in his second term.
The striker began his professional career at Uruguayan club Nacional, where he spent four years in their youth system after joining as a 14-year-old. He netted 12 goals in 35 appearances for the first team before being snapped up by Dutch club Groningen in 2006.
Nacional are aware that any deal to bring the striker back to the club is extremely difficult but each day that passes without Suarez signing for a European side, which remains his hope, the deal becomes a little more likely.
Their hopes of signing the striker received a fresh boost this week as club president Jose Fuentes travelled directly to Spain, as per Marca, to talk to Suarez and discuss his future. The Uruguayan club's fans have begun a social media campaign with the hashtag #SuarezANacional as their ambition of securing the striker's signature took an upturn.
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Last season Suarez found the net just 12 times across 41 appearances in La Liga and the Champions League, while he was no longer a guaranteed starter for the side – with just 20 starts from the club's 37 La Liga matches this campaign. He is now desperate to find a club willing to play him regularly ahead of the World Cup getting underway in Qatar this winter.
Earlier this summer, Suarez confirmed that a move to South America was a possibility – when discussing an approach from Argentine club River Plate – and even dropped a subtle hint urging Nacional what they should do: "I was very excited about the possibility of going to River Plate to fight to win the Copa Libertadores. It was a dream that I had to win a cup in South America. However, as soon as River were eliminated that possibility is over.
"A month and a half ago I declared that I was not going to leave Europe, but River insisted and insisted so much that I came to consider that possibility. As much as one says something, when the time comes you will consider it. You are excited that they love you so much. A player needs to see affection. River was giving it to me and Nacional (Suarez’s former Uruguayan club) could have tried that."
