“What almost happened after 2014 World Cup” — Luis Suarez

Imagine Karim Benzema under Arsene Wenger or Luis Suarez in Real Madrid — an alternative history that very nearly happened.

Karim Benzema’s career took a different turn thanks to a Luis Suarez decision that could have rewrote Real Madrid‘s history.

Football can be a funny thing as much as it is a beautiful sport. One minute, things look so straightforward, the next minute, the plot twist hits fans creating a reverberation that unwittingly affects the fate of others.

For instance, take a look at Liverpool’s transfer business shortly after the 2019/20 season when a certain RB Leipzig star, Timo Werner was heavily linked to the Merseyside club.

In a move that largely shook the Liverpool fandom, the German international made a U-turn to move to West London to link up with Liverpool’s rivals, Chelsea. Also that summer, the failed move to get the signature of Timo Werner allowed the Reds to land the signature of a player who turned out a gem for Liverpool — Diogo Jota, ironically for almost the same price if Wolves were Leipzig.

Also relating to Liverpool, the Reds played a role in shaping the history of football and 2 players in particular prior to and after the 2014 World Cup tournament.

According to Luis Suarez, who at that time was still a Liverpool player, his eventual move to Barcelona, almost saw him don the all white jersey of a different club antagonist to Barcelona’s history — Real Madrid.

The former Barcelona icon disclosed that before leaving for the 2014 tournament, Real Madrid were ringing at his door, insisting on his signature to the Santiago Bernabeu.

And according to the Uruguayan, the La Liga side had revealed their intentions of let go one of their stars; Karim Benzema to Arsenal.

“Before the 2014 World Cup, Real Madrid wanted to sign me and everything was on track. They were planning to sell Benzema to Arsenal, it was all done.” Luis Suarez disclosed.

Judging by our current knowledge of history, this would have had a ripple effect on history for all 3 clubs involved; as it means Real Madrid would have had the lethal strike force of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez, while Barcelona would have lost out on the famous MSN that Suarez was a part of.

For Arsenal however, they would be welcoming another French striker after the iconic Thierry Henry, which would have been interesting to see.

On why the move failed to happen, Luis Suarez explained that his unwitting actions on and off the pitch side thwarted the move from becoming a reality;

“When the World Cup started, Barca joined the race, and obviously I preferred Barca. With the bite situation, Madrid lowered their interest, and Barca became more interested. In the end I had both options and I chose Barcelona because it was my dream.” the former Liverpool number 7 revealed.