By DAN KARELL
One day after making his friendly debut for Barcelona, Luis Suarez was presented by the club in front of the local media.
As expected, plenty of the questions centered around the infamous World Cup bite, which left Suarez unable to take part in any official soccer activities until Friday, and he remains suspended at the club level through Oct. 26. Suarez expressed remorse about the incident, but said he was trying to look forward and not think about the past.
“It’s a personal issue, but I’ve dealt with appropriate professionals,” Suarez said. “The sanction is what it is and we have to accept it.”
“I’d rather not go back,” Suarez continued. “I had days when I was very depressed and did not feel like doing anything. Until I was not comfortable with my wife and daughters, I could not apologize to everyone. I reflected and knew I had to accept the reality, apologize to the player and my team. I try not remember it and think about this.”
During the press conference, Barcelona vice president Jordi Mestre revealed that Suarez’s release clause with Liverpool was 75 million pounds ($125 million), but said the team was able to negotiate the transfer price down to 65 million pounds.
Here are some more notes to kick off your Tuesday:
SCHWEINSTEIGER TO MISS START OF SEASON
Bayern Munich will be without at least two of their stars heading into the 2014-2015 Bundesliga season.
After losing Javi Martinez for the rest of the season with a suspected torn anterior cruciate ligament, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge revealed that midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will miss at least the first few weeks of the season as he rests a niggling injury with his patellar tendon.
“He has been examined again yesterday,” Rummenigge said at a press conference. “He has problems with the patella. This will take a few weeks. We are confident that there is nothing long-term.”
The injury problem also means that Schweinsteiger will miss Germany’s upcoming pair of international matches, against Argentina in a rematch of the World Cup final and in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Scotland.
QUICK KICKS
Arsenal’s Kieran Gibbs has been ruled out for three weeks with a hamstring injury. (REPORT)
In response, Arsene Wenger has made Olympiakos defender Kostas Manolas his top defensive transfer target. (REPORT)
Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Christoph Kramer was left off the team’s squad for its trip to FK Sarajevo for a UEFA Europa League match. Kramer continues to recover from a concussion suffered in the World Cup final. (REPORT)
Queens Park Rangers have signed Chilean forward Eduardo Vargas on a season-long loan from Napoli. (REPORT)
Celtic are close to completing a deal to sign Ghanian international midfielder Wakaso Mubarak on a one-year loan from Rubin Kazan. (REPORT)
Norway has called up promising 15-year-old star Martin Odegaard to the senior national team, and he could make his debut next week in a friendly match against the United Arab Emirates. (REPORT)
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What do you think of these reports? Do you believe Suarez? How big of a loss is Schweinsteiger’s latest injury for Bayern? What do you think of Vargas moving to QPR?
Share your thoughts below.