With eight days to go until the first El Clasico, and Luis Suarez's long-awaited debut, our feature article today is about why he may be a future contender for the Balon D'Or.
After being awarded the European Golden Boot, which he shares with the current Ballon D'Or holder, Cristiano Ronaldo, Suarez looks set to improve dramatically after leaving the underachieving Liverpool and joining European giants, Barcelona.
With 31 goals in 37 appearances, the Uruguayan hit his peak last season and was far and away the most prolific striker in the Premier League, despite playing for the team that eventually finished second. A move to Spain, where the football is faster and more technical will likely see his goal scoring exploits improve even further, especially considering the way Barcelona are able to dominate many teams in La Liga.
At Ajax, Suarez showed that he is capable of bagging lots of goals with the Uruguayan scoring 35 times in 33 games during the 2009/10 season. Since then, he's simply proved that he can do it at the highest level.
Now at Barcelona, he will be receiving incredible support up front from the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic, who will provide the necessary platform to create the goals that he will undoubtedly put the finishing touches on.
Internationally, he has scored 42 goals in 81 games, becoming Uruguay's all-time top-scorer in the process. Overall, he has scored 246 goals for club and country. With this kind of record, it wouldn't be a far stretch if one predicts that he may be scoring 50 or 60 goals a season, like Messi and Ronaldo have done in the past.
If he were to achieve figures like that, as well as some silverware, there is little doubt that he would be in the running for the Ballon D'Or.
Do you think Luis Suarez can win the Ballon D'Or at Barcelona? Have your say in the comments section below.
