The Blaugrana president says the club made a move for the player before the World Cup and described Lionel Messi’s value to the Camp Nou side as “limitless”

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu claims Luis Suarez turned down more lucrative offers in favour of joining the Spanish giants.

Suarez joined the Blaugrana for close to €88 million shortly after Uruguay’s exit from the World Cup this summer following a three-and-a-half-year spell with Liverpool.

Bartomeu has revealed Barca first made contact with the player prior to the tournament in Brazil and says the Premier League player of the year in 2013-14 had received better financial offers from other clubs.

“Barcelona made first contact with the player before the World Cup. I told him he was at the right age and experience to take the plunge,” he told CNN.

“We knew many years ago that Suarez loves our club, that he loves the city. As such, everything was perfect to accept Luis Suarez.

“We knew he had better offers, but Suarez decided to come to Barcelona.”

Suarez incurred a four-month ban from football for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup but Bartomeu insists the incident did not make them doubt whether to push through with the deal.

“No, it did not make us reconsider and we told him that after the incident. He knows it was wrong, he accepted it was wrong and apologised, and that was very important for us,” he said.

Bartomeu then went on to describe Lionel Messi as invaluable to Barca due to the example he sets to other young players at La Masia.

“Messi represents more than goals and trophies. He represents the spirit of a young player who arrives at La Masia and grows at our club,” he said.

“The value of Messi to the club is limitless.”

Finally, Bartomeu claims he himself learned a significant amount from former coach Pep Guardiola and hinted that the current Bayern Munich boss could be among a number of ex-Barca players who could consider returning to the club in the coming years.

“I’ve learned a lot from Pep Guardiola. He’s a genius. People who carry Barca in their heart come back to help the club.

“After 2022, many of the players who are here now, or are at other clubs, will come back as coaches, sporting directors, presidents because, at the end of the day, we’re one big family.”

Club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has confirmed the German champions have settled on a fee to bring the Spain international to the Allianz Arena

Bayern Munich have reached an agreement with Liverpool for the signing of Pepe Reina, chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has confirmed.

Reports emerged on Tuesday that the Spain international – who spent last season on loan at Napoli – was in negotiations to join Pep Guardiola’s German champions.

And Rummenigge has now revealed the two clubs have settled on a fee for the goalkeeper, telling Bild: “We have reached an agreement with Reina and Liverpool. [Technical director] Michael Reschke could prepare a few things back home while we were in the USA.”

Reina is expected to serve as back-up to Manuel Neuer at Bayern, who have become short on goalkeepers following the elbow injury suffered by veteran Tom Starke.

Reina was Rafa Benitez’s No.1 choice last season as Napoli clinched third place in Serie A and the Coppa Italia, after the Liverpool shot-stopper left Anfield for first-team football following the arrival of Simon Mignolet.

The player himself stated at the end of last month that he intended to see out the remaining two years of his contract with the Reds, specifically after Benitez had conceded that Napoli could not afford to sign him on a permanent deal.

Reina’s fee is reportedly around the €3 million mark, with the former Barcelona man set to reunite with Guardiola following their spell together as players at Camp Nou.

The Uruguay international joined Barcelona for a fee in excess of €90 million earlier this summer and the Reds right-back believes the club can succeed without the striker

Glen Johnson expects Liverpool to cope with the loss of Luis Suarez as they prepare to launch another Premier League title challenge.

Suarez was the driving force behind the Merseyside club’s challenge for a first top-flight crown since 1990, scoring 31 Premier League goals as they ended the campaign just two points behind champions Manchester City.

However, the Uruguay star has now left Anfield, signing for Spanish giants Barcelona in a deal thought to be worth around €94 million last month.

But while Johnson accepts that Suarez represents a significant loss, the England right-back believes Liverpool – who scored 101 Premier League goals in total last term – can cope following the arrivals of the likes of Lazar Markovic, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert.

“Any team that loses a player like Luis is going to feel it. But we will carry on like we do, creating chances,” he told Sky Sports News.

“I think we were the team who created the most chances last season, we’ve signed some good strikers and I’m sure once they get a chance they will take it.

“It gets overlooked that we played the first six games of last season without Luis and made a fantastic start, so we can clearly win without Luis”.