Gremio’s coach Portaluppi himself confirmed that the transfer of striker Luis Suarez to Inter Miami to reunite with his former teammate Lionel Messi will never happen.

On Sunday, the representative of Inter Miami Club confirmed that it had successfully negotiated with the San Jose club, spending $ 150,000 to receive back the right to strengthen a foreign player this summer, to recruit striker Luis Suarez  to target reunited with former Barcelona teammates Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

Recently, ESPN Brazil reported that Suarez personally wanted to return all the wages he had received from Gremio to be transferred to Inter Miami. In addition, the 36-year-old striker accepts to pay an additional “fee” to liquidate the contract, which is valid until December 2024. However, the Board of Directors of Gremio has not made a final decision.

“The decision will be with the president of the team,” coach Portaluppi said about Suarez wanting to liquidate his contract on July 25. “Everything that is reported in the press is true, but only the Gremio board of directors has the right to decide.”

However, in a recent statement, the head coach of Gremio spoke out about the future of Suarez: “Luis Suarez will not join Inter Miami this summer. Negotiations collapsed, everything is over. Luis will stay in Gremio until December.”

Suarez joined Gremio in January 2023, after leaving Atletico Nacional of Uruguay. Before that, he played for Ajax, Liverpool, Barca and Atletico Madrid. Suarez has only made 31 appearances for Gremio, but has scored 16 goals. Gremio is currently third in the Brazilian Championship and in the semi-finals of the National Cup.