BARCELONA, Spain— Spanish club Barcelona still wants to sign Uruguay striker Luis Suarez despite the heavy blow to his football career, after being banned for four months for biting yet another opponent.

Despite the furore over the incident that saw Suarez sent home from the World Cup, Spanish media had reported Barcelona were still ready to buy him from Liverpool on condition he apologise for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini.

Barcelona’s sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta told a news conference on Tuesday that, “Suarez has had the character and the humility to acknowledge his mistake”. This comes after Suarez apologised in a twitter message on Monday.

Barca’s new coach Luis Enrique is overhauling the squad after a disappointing season in which they narrowly failed to defend their Spanish league title.

Zubizarreta was speaking at a news conference on Tuesday to present Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic, whom the Catalan club has bought from Sevilla on a five-year contract.

Suarez was the top scorer in England’s Premier League last season with 31 goals.

Zubizarreta declined to comment on the prospect of the club signing him, however.

“Luis Suarez is an excellent player and everyone knows it. But everyone also knows that he is a Liverpool player.”