MLS Sides Monitoring Luis Suárez as Barcelona Look for Ways to Raise Money

A number of Major League Soccer sides are understood to be tracking Barcelona striker Luis Suárez, who could be sold in an attempt to raise funds.

Barcelona were already searching for ways to boost their transfer budget this summer, with moves for both Lautaro Martínez and Neymar on the horizon, but now the lack of matchday income because of the coronavirus outbreak has only made the situation worse.

According to Marca, Barcelona could turn to player sales in an attempt to raise some money, and a move for Suárez has been discussed by several MLS sides as a result.

Inter Miami have long been touted as a potential landing spot for the Uruguayan, but it is thought that David Beckham's side are not alone in their pursuit of Suárez.

Suárez has previously flirted with the idea of moving to MLS, telling ESPNFC: "MLS is a league that any player would be interested in and I asked [Nicolás Lodeiro] about the competition and about his teammates.

"I have a contract with Barça and I am very happy here. In the future you never know, it's an attractive league."

Marca don't believe that either Suárez or Barcelona are desperate to seal such a transfer - particularly as losing him would likely upset close friend Lionel Messi - but a previous report has suggested that La Blaugrana would be prepared to listen to reasonable offers for everyone except Messi, Frenkie de Jong and Marc-André ter Stegen.

Not only do they want to fund moves for Martínez and Neymar, but Barcelona also need to raise money to cover their losses and stick to their budget.

Marca have previously revealed that the club need to bring in €70m by June 30th in order to balance the books. At the start of the season, Barcelona were optimistic that Bayern Munich would trigger their option to sign Philippe Coutinho, but given that's not happening, they need to find some more income.

While selling Suárez to a MLS side wouldn't raise a huge sum, getting his wages off the books would go a long way to helping the situation.

However, it seems like Barcelona want to keep Suárez around for a little while longer, and given he racked up 14 goals and 11 assists in 23 appearances this season, you can hardly blame them.