In his new autobiography, Luis Suarez says he was being treated "like a Vampire" when told to leave the Uruguay camp at the World Cup this past summer. He also said that he felt he was finalizing his summer transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona in an "undercover operation."
Suarez had previously admitted that he feared his lifelong dream of playing for Barca had been dashed when FIFA banned him from "all football activity" for four months after he bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini in Brazil.
The unprecedented nature of his punishment meant it was unclear whether he was legally allowed to negotiate his move to the Camp Nou.
Although the deal was agreed to in early July, the 27-year-old was not officially presented as a Barcelona player until mid-August after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling had lessened his punishment.
In extracts from the Spanish version of his new autobiography, published in Sport, Suarez said he had signed his Barcelona contract "almost in secret."
"The absurdity of the FIFA ban became clearer day by day," he wrote. "We had to plan everything carefully just in case the paparazzi or a fan would take a photo showing activity remotely related to football.
"I had to almost secretly sign a contract without it becoming publicly known ... we had to plan everything meticulously so that nobody would see us and there would be no photos."
Suarez said that, as he hid away in his wife's parents' house outside Barcelona, his day-to-day existence felt more like something from a thriller than real life.
"There was a plan with three cars leaving from three different exits in case the press had been tipped off," he explained. "I got used to it being like an undercover operation. I left the house of my parents-in-law hidden in a car to trick the paparazzi."
The forward also reveals the moment when Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez told him that his ban meant he had to immediately leave the Uruguay team hotel in Brazil.
"It was as if I was being treated like a criminal," he recalled. "The only reason I did not cry was because the coach was there."
"It's also normal that a striker is irritable and on edge," Suarez wrote. "For those 90 minutes on the pitch, life is irritating. I get irritated when a defender pushes up against me from behind. I get irritated when I miss chances.
"Defenders know that, too. In the Premier League, when I played against someone like Philippe Senderos at Fulham when Martin Jol was their manager, I knew the drill. About five minutes into the game, Senderos would step on the back of my ankle when the ball had gone. 'Ah, sorry,' he would say.
"I just thought, 'Yeah, Jol has told you what I'm like and has told you to do that.' It seems strange to say it after a third incident, but I have improved, I am calmer."
SUAREZ'S HISTORY OF CONTROVERSIES
June 2014 - Bites Giorgio Chiellini - 4-month ban.
April 2013 - Bites Branislav Ivanovic - 10-game ban.
Dec. 2011 - "Offensive gesture" at Fulham fans - 1-game ban.
Dec. 2011 - Found guilty of racially abusing Evra - 8-game ban.
Nov. 2010 - Bites Otman Bakkal - 7-game ban.
July 2010 - Red card in World Cup for handball vs. Ghana.
Nov. 2007 - Altercation with teammate - suspended by Ajax.
Feb. 2007 - Sent off on Uruguay debut for dissent.