Bale joined Madrid as the best player in England having won the PFA and FWA player of the year awards. Suarez will find himself in the same situation this summer.
The 27-year-old will find he has plenty of reasons to stay at Liverpool. He signed a four-and-half-year contract in December worth €240,000 a week as a reward for his outstanding form; he has improved dramatically under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers; Liverpool are one of the most famous clubs on the planet and will be back where they belong in the Champions League next season.
But they are not Real Madrid.
Suarez claims he is "very happy" and "nothing is going to happen" in the summer, but the chance to move to the Spanish capital is one that few players are able to turn down.
Cristiano Ronaldo pushed through the move in 2009, Bale did the same in 2013. It was an opportunity, they were warned, that might not come again.
One win away from that holy grail of a 10th European title, Madrid have built a team in no small part based on targeting the best Premier League talent. Ronaldo, Bale, Luka Modric and Xabi Alonso all arrived from England.
If Suarez wants to truly be considered one of the very best on the planet, perhaps even one of the greatest of all time, he must follow the same path. He has conquered the Premier League, now it is time for a new challenge.
At Real Madrid, alongside Bale and Ronaldo, he could have a genuine chance of one day winning the Ballon d'Or.
He will be able to play in a Spanish-speaking environment and escape from the English media, who he has often sought to blame for his own significant transgressions, not least the Patrice Evra racism incident and his decision to try and bite a chunk out of Branislav Ivanovic.
Liverpool have been wonderful to watch this season, but in reality this has been their chance to win the league. It will only get harder next season as rivals improve and Rodgers attempts to balance domestic goals with winning in Europe.
Last year, when Arsenal tried to sign Suarez for €50m, Liverpool admirably held firm. When Suarez tried to force the transfer and gave newspaper interviews stating his desire to leave, they told him to shut up.
But if Suarez was willing to kick up such a fuss to move to Arsenal, how far will he be willing to go to sign for Real Madrid?
For Liverpool’s owners, FSG, a bid worth more than €73m from a foreign club - not a direct rival -would be hard to resist. Indeed, it would be 'moneyball' in action. They found a player undervalued by the market at around €28m and they are now looking at making the best part of a €50m profit.
Suarez is an exceptional talent and one of the best the Premier League has ever seen - right up there with the likes of Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo.
His record this season, statistically at least, shows he is not far off the Portuguese superstar and Lionel Messi.
He deserves the chance to play alongside Ronaldo next season and establish himself as a true great of the game.
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