Barcelona were set to begin talks with Liverpool on Wednesday over a deal for ?80m-rated Reds striker Luis Suarez.
Officials from both clubs were due to meet in London to discuss a deal for the 27-year-old Uruguay international.
Suarez, who has?four years remaining on his Liverpool contract,?is serving a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup.
Barcelona’s Josep Maria Bartomeu declined to comment on negotiations but called Suarez “a global star”.
Speaking at a media conference on Wednesday, the Spanish club’s president said: “This year we are going to restructure the team in depth and we are working on that. We have been working on that since February, but I can’t reveal things we are doing.
“We have to be discreet – we can’t give clues to other teams.
“We do have a lot of negotiations at a very advanced stage, but the World Cup is going on. People are speculating about a lot of players at the World Cup, but there’s a lot of different factors.”
Pressed on Suarez, he said: “He’s a great player, a global star and we want him to play as well as he’s playing up to now. I’m speaking as a football fan.
“He’s a player who needs to rebuild himself and get back to playing football.”
Liverpool are likely to accept an offer of ?80m for Suarez, who joined for ?22.7m from Ajax in 2011.
However, Barcelona are understood to want to pay closer to ?60m and any deal may depend on whether they can include Chile winger Alexis Sanchez, 25, in part-exchange.
Liverpool are pragmatic about Suarez’s ambitions and are aware he would welcome a move to Spain, and particularly to Barcelona.
It is not yet clear whether Sanchez would be willing to move in part-exchange, although Bartomeu indicated the Spanish club wanted to keep him despite interest from other clubs.
“I can confirm we have received offers from several clubs for Alexis Sanchez, not because of what he’s done in the World Cup, but what he’s done before,” said Bartomeu.
Suarez apologised?on Monday for biting Chiellini, after which Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta said: “Suarez has shown he is humble enough to admit an error, which is very important.
“Everyone knows Luis is an excellent player, everyone knows last season he played in various positions in attack, but everyone also knows he is a Liverpool player.”
Bartomeu described the player’s decision to apologise as “honourable” and “good for football”.
“He did something wrong and I think it’s everybody in football’s responsibility, whether it’s Liverpool or others, to help him to go ahead and press on with his football career. It’s not easy to admit your mistakes,” he said.
Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who?completed his move to Barcelona from Sevilla on Tuesday,?also praised Suarez.
He said: “The fact he has had the character and the strength to go in front of everyone and say sorry says a lot about him as a person.”
BBC
