Atletico Madrid Confirm Agreement to Sign Luis Suarez From Barcelona

Barcelona legend Luis Suarez will join La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid ahead of the new season, as the two clubs came to an agreement on a deal worth €6m in variables.

Both clubs confirmed the news late on Wednesday night, with Atletico revealing the Uruguayan will join subject to passing a medical and reaching an agreement over his contract.

Suarez has been a part of the Barcelona team since 2014, scoring 198 times in that period - and he formed what many have considered to be the greatest attacking trident in modern football history alongside Neymar and Lionel Messi. During his Barcelona career, he won four La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey on four occasions and the Champions League in 2015.

Barcelona have however been looking to rebuild their first team squad since their humbling 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in last season's Champions League, with a number of senior players already leaving this summer. The likes of Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic have left for next to nothing, while Nelson Semedo left to join Wolves for a deal worth up to £37m earlier this week.

Suarez was initially told he would be able to leave on a free transfer as part of the upheaval, though it has since emerged that was dependent on the club he chose to join. Barcelona had not wanted to lose a key player to a direct rival for free.

The 33-year-old was initially close to joining Juventus, but the move fell through due to passport issues, and Atletico soon moved in. After some complications, a deal has been thrashed out for around €6m after discussions with Suarez's representatives - who have threatened to air Suarez's grievances about being forced out of the club publicly.

Mundo Deportivo have reported the player was considering releasing emails from Barcelona with the names of the teams he could not join for free, with the suggestion being that Atletico was not among them.

Nevertheless, the chapter appears over, and Suarez will now link up with Diego Costa and Diego Simeone - we'll leave you to imagine exactly what it'll be like watching them alongside each other.

Barcelona will hold a farewell event for Suarez via remote press conference on Thursday afternoon.