Luiz Suarez will leave Atletico Madrid on a free transfer this summer, and multiple reports have connected the Uruguayan forward with a move to Villa Park.
The link to Aston Villa is obvious, given the presence of Suarez’s former teammate Steven Gerrard. But is it a move Villa should be pursuing? Here is the case for and against bringing Suarez back to the Premier League.
The case for…
First and foremost, Suarez still has his goalscoring touch even as he enters the twilight years of his career.
Barcelona was happy to move on from the veteran striker after the 2019/20 season, and he promptly went to Atletico and scored 21 goals in his debut campaign.
His role has been reduced in 2021/22, starting just 20 games out of 34 total La Liga appearances, but Suarez has still managed to notch 11 goals and register two assists.
The 35-year-old still has a penchant for scoring quality goals, too. Suarez’s 11 league goals have come from just 7.72 xG (expected goals), giving him a goals-over-expected value of 0.15 per 90 minutes. In comparison, Danny Ings’ goals-over-expected is 0.02 per 90 minutes, and Ollie Watkins is 0.00.
Suarez ranked 13th in goal conversion percentage out of 74 La Liga strikers with at least 10 appearances in 2021/22, and 17th in shot on target percentage.
He has also offered more aerial goal threat than Villa’s strikers this season, scoring three headers to Ings and Watkins’ combined two
Bringing in Suarez would add more experience to a relatively young squad. At present, Villa do not have a player aged 30 or above who is under contract for next season.
Even some of Villa’s older players like Emiliano Martinez and Tyrone Mings are not actually that experienced at the top level. Suarez could provide a boost in this area as a player who has seen and done it all.
An accusation which could be levelled at Villa is they lack a ruthless edge and can be too nice. Signing Suarez would fix that in a hurry.
Finally, he is a free agent, meaning the risk of bringing Suarez in is relatively low.
The case against…
Unsurprisingly at this stage of his career, Suarez is simply in decline. In fact, his WhoScored rating has dropped every year for the last six seasons. This is a concerning trend and the question when considering signing Suarez is “how much does he have left?”.
From looking at the numbers, the answer would appear to be “not much”. He may still be scoring goals, but Suarez is not providing much else at this point.
Suarez ranked 57th out of 74 La Liga forwards in crosses per 90 minutes, 57th in dribbles, 67th in offensive duels, 56th in progressive runs and 68th in accelerations. He’s just not involved in games these days.
He also offers very little on the defensive side, ranking 66th in successful defensive actions, 61st in defensive duels and 58th in interceptions. Compared to his positional peers in the top five European leagues over the last year, Suarez scored in just the 1st percentile for pressures and the 24th percentile for tackles.
Suarez is also not the biggest striker in the world and may not provide much in the way of holding the ball up, an issue which Watkins and Ings have struggled with at times.
So, the issue is, how is he going to get on the pitch? It is a rare thing to see Watkins benched, and even if Gerrard opts to play two strikers, it is difficult to argue Suarez would warrant a start ahead of either Watkins or Ings.
Some may posit that Suarez could still serve a purpose off the bench when Villa needs a goal, but the fact is he has been much more effective when starting games. Just two of his 11 goals have come as a substitute this season.
Not to mention, Keinan Davis and Cameron Archer will return from successful loan spells this summer and should be worthy of a place in Villa’s matchday squad. Suarez’s could end up being a progress stopper for younger players.
Conclusion
While there are certainly some potential positives to be gained from signing Luis Suarez, it is probably not worthwhile for Villa.
This would not be similar to the Coutinho signing, who is potentially still in his prime years and will attract other players to the club. Villa would not be getting close to the Suarez of old and it’s hard to imagine a place in the team for him.
If this move did happen, it would feel more like a situation where Gerrard just wants him, more than it actually making much logical sense, and Villa would be better served committing to the development of younger strikers such as Keinan Davis and Cameron Archer instead.
The Villa Ramble 
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