Denis Suarez has joined Arsenal on loan until the end of this season and extended his contract with parent club Barcelona until June 2021, the LaLiga champions have confirmed.
The ex-Manchester City and Villarreal midfielder has been linked to a reunion with his former Sevilla boss Unai Emery throughout the January transfer window.
Arsenal will pay Suarez’s salary throughout his time at Emirates Stadium and the switch contains an option to buy, even though Barca have extended the 25-year-old’s deal by 12 months.
Since the Catalan giants exercised a buyback clause to sign Suarez from Villarreal in 2016, Suarez has made 71 appearances across all competitions and scored eight goals.
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The transfer is Arsenal’s maiden move in the mid-season window and their first signing since announcing head of recruitment Sven Mislintat will leave the club on February 8.
Emery would also appear to be in the market for a winger, with speculation over recent days suggesting Inter’s Croatia international Ivan Perisic is an Arsenal target along with Belgium’s Yannick Carrasco, who is currently plying his trade with Dalian Yifang in the Chinese Super League.
6 Comments
Goodness me!
I can only hope this doesn’t mean more bench roles for Iwobi who, despite several convincing displays this season for the gunners, does not appear to have convinced enough that he deserves automatic starting roles.
Watch this space….
Dennis Suarez’s main position is as central midfielder and this season he has appeared as a right winger also. I’d say not too much of a threat to Iwobi as he is to Ozil in centre of the park.
Like you say: Watch this space….
The problem is that he blows hot and cold. One matchday he is a match winner. Another matchday you would need a torch light in order to see him on the pitch. Its not just an Iwobi problem. It seems a Naija problem. Chukwueze is also gradually feeling the bench more than the pitch. I know football is not an easy game. I pray God gives them grace to remain consistent performers jn their clubs.
Chukwueze’s problem is/was not of form or blowing hot or cold, it was a club problem.
Villareal sacked their coach Javi Calleja seven weeks ago and brought someone new-Luis Garcia Plaza in, they have now sacked the new coach (Luis Garcia Plaza) and re-hired the old coach (Javi Calleja) who gave Sam his break in the team as well as played him regularly.
With the new-old coach (Javi Calleja) back in the seat, I fully expect Sam Chukwueze to regain his starting position and maintain the playing time that he enjoyed before the old-new coach (Luis Garcia Plaza) came in.
Did you keep up with the info? Lololol
I don’t think Chukwueze ever lost his position. Luis was playing a rotational system, so one match he uses Ekambi and Bacca etc..on another match – Chukwueze and Moreno or a mix but he was definitely rotating his attackers. Luis regards Chukwueze very high.
Thanks @BigD.
Of the 8 matches Suarez has featured this season, he has been deployed either the right or left wing 6 times and as a central midfield 2 times – I make that 75% of is appearances as a winger (source: transfermkt.co.uk).
Now, it is safe to say that no observer can gauge with a high degree of certainty what Unai Emery’s game-plan for Suarez is – who so far has one cap for his county’s senior national team, Spain.
The best we can do at this point is to speculate.
Having said that, the fact that Ozil has struggled to stamp his authority in the team this season would suggest that Suarez’ midfield acumen will be expected to be drawn upon to fill that void.
Equally plausible is the fact that Arsenal are still seeking wingers who can bring much “consistency” to the flanks; something sorely lacking in Iwobi’s overall play.
Note: if Iwobi can consistently replicate the kind of performance he displayed in his team’s recent defeat to Manchester United to also include more goals-to-game ratio, then he would be right up there with the like of Sadio Mane in my humble opinion.
However his lack of consistency could well be punished by the arrival of Suarez – I hope I am proved wrong.
Again, watch this space……