Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu has revealed Luis Suarez will sign a new contract extension within the next few days.
Suarez, 29, still has two-and-a-half years remaining on the deal he signed when he joined Barcelona from Liverpool in 2014 but the reigning La Liga champions want to reward the striker for his significant contribution towards their recent success.
The Uruguay international has already seen Neymar and Lionel Messi extend their deals with Barcelona this season, but he is poised to join his closest teammates by signing an extension that keeps him contract to the club until at least 2022.
“We’re about to close Suarez’s renewal,” Bartomeu told Radio Vision in Uruguay, via ESPN. “There are just a few final details [to sort]. But Luis will continue at Barcelona.
“He’s well loved by everyone and he loves the club. In the coming days, weeks, we will announce it. Maybe it will be a great Christmas present. Not for Luis, who knows he will continue here, but for the football fans.
“They know that he’s a really important character, that he forms part of this spectacular trident that we have at the club, that he helps the team. The objective is that Suarez is here until at least the [2022] World Cup in Qatar. Our sporting projects are based around World Cups.”
Suarez made a slow start to his Barcelona career but has been integral to their success ever since and has formed part of one of the best front threes football has ever seen, alongside Neymar and Messi.
In fact, apart from the goals he has scored, the work the front three do off the ball has been crucial to Luis Enrique’s system. It is therefore unsurprising that each of the Barcelona trident feature in the top five for possession won in the attacking third over the last three La Liga campaigns (Messi - 71, Neymar - 59 & Suarez - 51).
For more stats on Luis Suarez, click here to visit his WhoScored player page