Suarez wouldn’t drop down with Granada, though, as he instead swapped Spain for France, joining Marseille in a €10m (£8.5m/$11.5m) deal in the summer of 2022. He made a dream start to life in Ligue 1, too, scoring twice on his debut against Reims to help secure a 4-1 win.
That, however, proved to be the peak of Suarez’s time at Stade Velodrome. He would make just 10 further appearances - only three of which were starts - and score one more goal before being deemed surplus to requirements a mere six months into a five-year contract. He would thus return to Spain and join relegation-threatened Almeria on an initial loan deal in January 2023.
It was agreed that Almeria would make the move permanent if Suarez helped them survive in La Liga, and though he was far from prolific, the Colombian’s four goals and five assists were crucial to his new side finishing just one place and one point above the drop zone.
But it would prove to only be temporary reprieve. Almeria failed to win any of their first 28 La Liga games in 2023-24, and eventually went down having amassed a measly 21 points. Suarez was forced to watch most of the campaign from the sidelines after suffering a broken leg in the closing stages of October’s 3-3 draw with former club Granada. In a cruel twist, Suarez had earlier scored a hat-trick in the same game, but ended the match in tears on a stretcher.
That injury left Suarez in a dark place, and he struggled with his mental health for the months that followed.
"I went through a depression that I gradually recovered from, with work and psychologists," he revealed toEl Espectador. "I couldn't even get out of bed. I had an injury… Without it, I wouldn't have hit rock bottom. It helped strengthen my mental capacity. When I was injured, I felt like I could have lost everything, but if I hadn't lived through those difficult moments, I wouldn't be the player I am today.
"I wanted to change everything. I let my hair grow a little, I changed the name on my jersey [he started using his father's name, Luiz Javier Suarez]. These are stages that you close and others open."