Arsenal are ready to pay €2m for the loan of Denis Suarez from Barcelona this month with €20m to be paid in the summer as a report in Italy claims the player will arrive in the capital this weekend.
On Friday it was reported that Suarez is closing in on a loan move to Arsenal, but he’s also set to sign a one-year contract extension with Barcelona before he leaves, in case things go wrong.
Catalan radio outlet RAC1 (via Mundo Deportivo) report that Arsenal are set to pay a €2m loan fee to bring Suarez to the club until the summer. After that, they’ve reportedly agreed a €20m option-to-buy, which is an improvement on the previously reported compulsory purchase clause.
Before he goes anywhere, though, Barcelona want to extend Suarez’s contract for another year. The player’s current deal expires in 2020, and the La Liga club don’t want to risk Arsenal refusing the option-to-buy and the 25-year-old’s value decreasing significantly by summer.
RAC1: #AFC have already agreed to meet #FCB demands for Denis Suarez: €2m loan fee + a mandatory fee of €20m in summer to make the move permanent. The deal would go through once Denis signs a one-year extension with Barca to preserve his value if abnormal things happen. pic.twitter.com/asQhl57Caf
— Arsènic™ (@MrArsenicTM) January 18, 2019
On Friday, Spanish publication Sport also reported that a purchase option will not be mandatory:
A report from Italy, talking about Aaron Ramsey’s move to Juventus, claims that Suarez is expected in London this weekend.
It looks like an ideal solution all around. Arsenal would get the player they want, with the option to make the move permanent or pull out, depending on how things go. Barcelona would get a small fee now, the potential for a decent fee later, or their player back on a slightly longer deal if things don’t work out. Win-win.
For Suarez, he would finally get to go out and play. He’d either end up at Arsenal knowing they want to keep him or with another chance at Barcelona after half a season of regular game time. Both options are better than sitting on the bench in Spain for another six months.