Luis Suarez tipped reported Leeds and West Brom target to shine; thinks he's 'great'

Luis Suarez of Barcelona celebrates after he scores his sides first goal during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final first leg match between Barcelona and Liverpool at the Nou Camp on May… (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Luis Suarez is living proof of the fact that you should never write off someone without giving them a chance.

It is easy to forget now, after four La Liga titles and 198 goals, that a bona fide Barcelona legend was being labelled a £75 million flop in some quarters after a sluggish start to his Camp Nou career in 2014.

Four years earlier, when he swapped Ajax for Liverpool, there were plenty who wondered whether Suarez would suffer the same fate as other Eredivisie imports, such as Mateja Kezman and Afonso Alves.

So when Martin Braithwaite sent shockwaves around Europe by joining Barcelona in an emergency £16 million deal back in February, it was little surprise that Suarez was the first to stick up for a man struggling to force his way into Tony Pulis’s Middlesbrough side not so long ago.

“Martin is going to surprise people. He is at a great level. He was the best player Leganes had and, with the players he has around him at Barcelona, he can reach his potential.” Suarez said.

The Uruguayan had a point.

Braithwaite was Leganes’ go-to man – a scheming, skillful, versatile attacking weapon – and it was no coincidence that a goal-shy side were relegated without him last season.

Martin Braithwaite barcelona — Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images

In truth, hindsight doesn’t look too fondly on the rest of Suarez’s statement.

Braithwaite has not surprised anyone in Catalonia. With four La Liga starts and one goal in nine months, the Denmark international has certainly been more Kevin-Prince Boateng than Henrik Larsson, with his time at the club turning out to be predictably underwhelming.

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Braithwaite is no Danish Ali Dia, however.

Yes, he was the definition of a panic purchase, but it was his impressive form at Leganes that earned him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at Barcelona in the first place.

With Sport claiming that Leeds United, West Brom and West Ham United are willing to offer Braithwaite the chance to play regular first-team football again after just 37 minutes of action this season, he could soon have the chance to prove why he was deemed worthy of a place alongside Lionel Messi, Ansu Fati, Antoine Griezmann and co.

Maybe Suarez was right. Maybe Braithwaite will ‘surprise people’ – albeit in West Yorkshire or West Bromwich, rather than Barcelona.