04 January 2023 , 09:41
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Former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez is heading for a tense reunion with ex- Manchester United star Fabio after both penned a deal with Brazilian top-flight club Gremio.
The Uruguayan striker put pen to paper on a two-year contract with the club having departed boyhood side Nacional ahead of the World Cup. He was very quickly followed by former Red Devil Fabio who returns to Brazil having enjoyed stints with United, Cardiff City, Middlesbrough and Nantes.
Taking to Twitter shortly after his move was confirmed, Suarez wrote: “Preparing for this beautiful challenge at Gremio. I'm excited to be there and enjoy it.”
Whilst the veteran forward might be relishing the chance at getting down to business with his new club, the former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid star might have some smoothing over to do with fellow new recruit Fabio. The Brazilian defender was a severe critic of the Uruguayan striker ahead of an infamous 2-1 victory for the Red Devils’ against Suarez’s Liverpool back in 2012.
The striker refused to shake Patrice Evra’s hand ahead of the showdown at Old Trafford having been suspended by the FA for eight matches after an independent regulatory commission found him guilty of racically abusing the French left-back during a previous meeting. After the match, Fabio suggested that Suarez’s actions only served to motivate the Red Devils even more.
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He said: "I do not like to talk about this because to me racism is something that should not exist. I believe in forgiving people for their sins and Patrice had done that with Suarez.
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"At Anfield he was insulted but at Old Trafford he offered his hand, what Suarez did had no justification. For me not to accept the hand of a person for whatever reason is a serious offence.
"The attitude of Suarez before the game gave us more incentive to win against Liverpool. Before the match everything was normal except for the atmosphere and the rivalry in the stands but after what happened with the handshake it changed."
Fabio was not the only man to have been a verbal critic of Suarez and his actions. Legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson slammed the striker as a ‘disgrace’ and claimed that he should have been banned indefinitely.
"I could not believe it,” he said at the time. “I just could not believe it.
"He's a disgrace to Liverpool Football Club, that certain player should not be allowed to play for Liverpool again. The history that club's got and he does that and in a situation like today could have caused a riot. I was really disappointed in that guy, it was terrible what he did."
Suarez and Fabio could make their respective Gremio debuts later this month with the Brazilian side set to open up their latest state championship campaign against Caxias.