Luis Suárez Miramontes

Lore & Background

Suárez originally achieved prominence as a creative inside forward, or attacking midfielder in modern terms, during his spell at Barcelona in the 1950s, before reaching his prime as a deep-lying playmaker at Inter Milan, where he played a pivotal role in the success of Helenio Herrera's side, and was one of the primary creative forces in the squad, thanks to his skill on the ball, vision, and passing range. He retired as a player in 1973, after three seasons at Sampdoria. Suárez subsequently began a career as a coach and managed Inter Milan on three occasions, the latter two of which on a caretaker basis. He was also at the helm of both the Spain under-21 national team, which he led to a European Under-21 Championship title in 1986, and the Spanish senior national team, which he led to the round of 16 of the 1990 World Cup. He died in Milan on 9 July 2023, aged 88.

In Their Own Story

In 1961, the football world watched as Luis Suárez Miramontes completed his move from Barcelona to Inter Milan for £152k. The transfer was the culmination of a seven-year period that saw the world record broken seven times, with Suárez's fee doubling the previous mark. His arrival in Milan marked the beginning of a new chapter, where his technical brilliance would help transform Inter into European champions.

Reader's Guide

Luis Suárez Miramontes was born on 2 May 1935, in A Coruña, Galicia. He started playing football at Perseverancia, a local team administered by the Santo Tomás parish; in 1949, aged 14, he joined Deportivo La Coruña. After coming through the club's youth ranks and playing for their reserve team, Deportivo Fabril, Suárez was promoted to the first team during the 1953–54 season. On 6 December 1953, he made his senior debut for Deportivo, starting in a 6–1 league defeat to Barcelona. He played 17 games and scored three goals for Deportivo. In March 1954, Suárez joined Barcelona together with team-mate Dagoberto Moll for a reported total fee of 600,000 pesetas. He made his debut for Barça on 2 May 1954, the day of his 19th birthday, in a 4–0 victory over his former team Deportivo in the Copa del Generalísimo. During the 1954–55 season, he gained limited playing time with the first team, while also featuring for Barcelona's reserve side, España Industrial. At the end of the 1956–57 season, he won his first Spanish Cup with the club. Following the appointment of Helenio Herrera as Barça's manager at the start of the 1958–59 season, Suárez started performing at a consistently high level in the left inside forward position. With Herrera as coach, the club and Suárez won a domestic league–cup double in the 1958–59 season, and then a league–Fairs Cup double in the following campaign. On 19 October 1960, Suárez scored a goal after a solo action in a 4–3 Fairs Cup win over Zagreb XI. On 9 November 1960, he scored the 1000th European Cup goal in history in a First round 2–2 El Clásico draw. In December of the same year, Suárez received the Ballon d'Or. During his last season at Barcelona, the team reached the final of the European Cup, where they suffered a 3–2 loss to Benfica. Throughout seven seasons, Suárez played a total number of 253 matches for Barcelona, scoring 141 goals. On 26 May 1961, Barcelona and Inter Milan reached an agreement for the transfer of Suárez for 25 million Spanish pesetas (£152,000). He subsequently became the world's most expensive footballer. On 27 August 1961, he made his debut and scored his first goal for Inter Milan in a 6–0 league win over Atalanta. In October of the same year, he suffered a knee injury. He finished second in the final ranking for the 1961 Ballon d'Or. At the start of the following campaign, manager Herrera moved Suárez

Did You Know?

• Suárez was the first Spanish-born footballer to win the Ballon d'Or, in 1960.
• He scored the 1000th European Cup goal in history in a 1960 El Clásico draw.
• He became the world's most expensive footballer when he transferred from Barcelona to Inter Milan in 1961.
• He was the first Spanish player to score a hat-trick in Serie A, in 1963.