Luis Suarez highlighted his close friendship with Lionel Messi as he bid a teary farewell to Barcelona on Thursday ahead of his move to La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid.

Messi had failed to dovetail with other top strikers such as Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa but took no time at all to gel with Suarez, who became his best friend at the club as well as a prolific strike partner.

“When I got to Barcelona everyone said be careful with Leo, that he was the main striker at the club,” an emotional Suarez said at a media conference attended by Messi and fellow Barca teammates Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba.

“But in our time together we always tried to perform as well as we could and I can leave here feeling very proud.”

Messi also looked set to be leaving Barca before walking back on his threat to end his contract unilaterally, and Suarez lashed out at the stories that appeared in the media about the two players’ influence on the club.

“It has been a crazy month, many things have been said and leaked that were invented, many things that made me angry. But everyone knows how good a relationship I have with Leo,” Suarez added.