With FC Barcelona superstar Luis Suarez nearing the back-end of his career, the reigning LaLiga champions have now reportedly identified the player to replace him.
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Suarez's goalscoring return of 25 goals last season was his joint-worst since joining Barcelona in 2014, and is reportedly seen by the Catalan club as evidence of his ageing decline.
Now 32 years old, the Uruguayan's best years are believed to be behind him, and it is understood that the Blaugrana have begun looking towards the future.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barca have already identified a replacement for the former Liverpool star, and it is a player who is already at the club.
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The Spanish publication has reported that 19-year old forward Abel Ruiz, who is part of the Barca B squad, is considered by the club as the long-term successor to Suarez after excelling at various youth levels for club and country.
Ruiz boasts an incredible return of 41 goals in 59 international youth appearances for Spain, and recently returned to Barca after taking part in the Uefa European U19 Championship.
The Almussafes-born wonderkid was previously linked with a move away from the Camp Nou, but now appears to have convinced the Blaugrana hierarchy of his potential.
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Suarez has scored 177 goals in 247 appearances for Barcelona so far, and won the Pichichi Award for LaLiga's top goalscorer in the 2015/16 campaign after scoring 40 league goals that season.
Has Suarez started to decline, or is he still a world-class forward? Let us have your thoughts by commenting in the section below.
