COMMENT: Lionel Messi and Neymar win the most headlines and have the most fans of all the FC Barcelona players, but Luis Suárez is outshining them both and on his way to his best season ever.
The Uruguayan took his tally to 35 goals in 33 matches for the season when he netted four times in the Copa del Rey rout against hapless Valencia on Tuesday evening and showed that he is one of, if not the, deadliest finisher in world football.
Of course, Suárez is highly thought of, but he is not revered in the same way as his strike partners that make up the MSN trio as he perhaps lacks the flair to make him a showman or a true entertainer.
Messi and Neymar dance and waltz their way past defenders while the former Ajax and Liverpool forward is far more direct. There are few tricks in his repertoire and no extra touches needed in front of goal.
Against Valencia, all of Suárez's goals were clinical and deadly, but without any winding run or beating of three players before the final shot.
There is also of course his antics that win headlines for other reasons that have seen him lose the respect of some with memories of his biting opponents still fairly fresh in the memory, while his race-related run-in with Patrice Evra and celebrations after denying Ghana a World Cup goal do go against him.
After biting Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax, the striker then did the same to Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic's during his time at Liverpool and followed that up with the infamous incident involving Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup Final encounter between Uruguay and Italy.
Given that he arrived at Camp Nou still serving the four-month ban handed out for the last of those three episodes, he had a lot to prove to the doubters who, while confident of his ability, were unsure of the man.
Now 16 months on since he made his Barça debut, few fans or reporters that cover the Catalan club for the Spanish daily sports newspapers have any reservations about his effectiveness, but there is still something there that does not make them convinced he is on a par with Messi and Neymar.
Samuel Eto'o was the Blaugrana's goalscoring machine when the Frank Rijkaard era was in full swing, but it was still Ronaldinho who was the favourite with his style and skill and Suárez is facing the same issue as the Cameroon star.
Last term, Suárez's first at Camp Nou, saw him playing catch up and in his 26 league appearances he netted just 16 times while Messi and Neymar alongside him scored 65 between them and that made the Uruguayan as the third member of the MSN. This term, however, he has begun to take centre stage and when Messi was out for two months Neymar took up the creative duties and Suárez continued to score at will to ensure that the Argentine was not missed as much as many thought he would be.
In the Copa del Rey this week Messi scored three and looked to be the headline writer, but two quick goals to add to his earlier brace meant that it was Suárez who had the sub-editors drooling as he took another step forward in his evolution.
“Tonight was one of those nights when everything went right," Suárez said after his quartet of goals against Gary Neville's side, but he could have replaced the use of nights with seasons as he continues to find the net and break records.
There may have been murmurings, mainly from Barça supporters, that the striker was unlucky not to be among the final three for the Ballon d'Or last month, but if he continues playing like he has been then both Messi and Neymar had better watch out because he might just win it next January.
