Luis Suarez was denied a move to Real Madrid prior to leaving Liverpool.
Suarez completed a £65 million move to Barcelona in summer 2014 but reports in Spain claim that his Reds’ departure almost led to their bitter La Liga rivals.
The controversial Uruguayan had regularly been linked with the Bernabeu either side of his failed attempts to engineer a move to Arsenal just 12 months prior.
But Marca claim that the switch to the current European champions was prevented from becoming a reality by Real’s erstwhile coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Los Blancos’ hierarchy had reportedly identified Suarez, who has scored 96 goals in 114 outings for Barca, as a direct replacement for striker Karim Benzema.
Ancelotti however preferred to retain the France international over the 30-year-old due to his strong compatibility alongside talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.
Since joining Barcelona, Suarez has won eight major honours in his first two seasons including back-to-back La Liga titles and the Champions League.