FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Inter Miami CF coach Gerardo "Tata" Martino has confirmed his club's continued interest in signing veteran striker Luis Suárez this winter.
Speaking to the media one day before Miami's final home game of the MLS season -- a 2-2 draw with Charlotte FC -- Martino said the organization continues to evaluate a potential move for the 36-year-old from Uruguay, three months after rumors surrounding the transfer originally started.
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"Within our analysis of the upcoming season, and the needs we may have, we have an analysis with Luis and an analysis without Luis," Martino said.
"When the moment arrives to make Suárez's situation with respect to Inter Miami official, we'll be prepared to go in the corresponding direction."
As confirmed earlier this month by his current coach at Grêmio, Renato Gaucho, Suárez will depart the Porto Alegre-based club at the end of the Brazilian Serie A season in December, despite only being halfway through the two-year contract he signed in December 2022.
"He was somebody who came through here and not only made his mark at Grêmio, but I believe that all of Brazil recognizes it," said Gaucho. "I have had the pleasure to be working with him. We will miss him a lot."
Suárez -- Uruguay's all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 137 appearances for La Celeste -- is currently Grêmio's leading scorer this season with nine goals in 27 league games.
The two-time Serie A champions, who were relegated in 2021 only to bounce back one year later, currently sit third in the table, 14 points behind leaders Botafogo with 12 games remaining.
Rumors about a potential Suárez move to South Florida began circulating over the summer when Suárez admitted the high demands of the Brazilian league were taking a toll on his body, especially his knees.
He had meniscus surgery on his left knee in 2014 while with Liverpool and a similar surgery on his right knee in 2020 as a Barcelona player.
"I feel that next year I will not be able to perform due to my fitness and the high demands of the Brazilian championship, which is why the club and I have spoken about ending my contract [with Grêmio] a year early," he told reporters in late July.
That statement came just under two weeks after Inter Miami made their signing of Lionel Messi complete, although Suárez said at the time that the MLS club had spoken to Grêmio, but not to him directly.
Along with Messi, Miami signed fellow former Barcelona stars Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in the middle of its season, moves that helped the club to the Leagues Cup title and a spot in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Suárez spent six seasons playing alongside that trio at Camp Nou from 2014 to 2020, winning four Spanish La Liga titles and the 2015 UEFA Champions League.
As for Miami's current high-end striker situation, Josef Martínez is in the last year of his deal, and may not return to Miami next season, while 23-year-old Leonardo Campana from Ecuador signed a contract extension last month that will keep him in South Florida through 2027.
After Wednesday's draw with Charlotte, Martino admitted the club's recent focus has been mostly on next season.
"We can't neglect the game we played tonight nor the one on Saturday, but we are already thinking about next season," said Martino. "I always thought 2024 was the year, in some way, our work started."