<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has hinted that Luis Suarez may have been tapped up while at Liverpool.  &amp;nbsp; #453083762 / gettyimages.com  Barcelona acted quickly to tie up a staggering &amp;pound;75 million deal for the Uruguayan after he was exiled from the World Cup for a third biting shame in less than four years. The La Celeste star was sent home after he bit Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during their final group game. Suarez was still a Liverpool player when he was banned for four months from all football activities by FIFA, and Barca officially announced the signing of the PFA and FWA Player of the Season last month.   &amp;nbsp; #451150422 / gettyimages.com  The 31-goal striker only signed a new contract at Anfield back in December, and steadfastly maintained that he was happy to remain at the club after penning the deal. However, Suarez was offloaded amidst the storm of yet another biting ban, but Bartomeu has claimed that the Reds forward was sounded out prior to the World Cup beginning in the first week of June. The Mirror quotes him as saying: &amp;ldquo;When we approached Suarez, it was before the World Cup. We told him that he had the right age. He had the experience. &amp;ldquo;Playing at Liverpool gave him incredible performance and it was the right time for him to come to our club, to Barcelona. \"And we have the advantage - his agent is Pep Guardiola&amp;rsquo;s brother. He&amp;rsquo;s from Barca in his heart, also, so everything was perfect and created the perfect atmosphere that Luis Suarez accepted.&amp;rdquo; The revelations are unlikely to go down well in the corridors of power at Anfield. The club's fans were firmly under the impression that the striker would have been ready to lead their Premier League title charge in the new season. If Liverpool were unaware of the discussions between the La Liga giants and their star striker, then Bartomeu's comments may be viewed as a blatant admission of tapping up."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2014/08/06/have-barcelona-just-admitted-to-tapping-up-luis-suarez/>