Barcelona’s Denis Suarez has offers from Arsenal and Chelsea to complete a January transfer, and he plans to decide whether to join them in the next week.
That’s according to Catalan radio outlet RAC1, who write that Suarez will either join one of the two Premier League clubs or stay in Barcelona until June. Those are the only options he’s considering at this stage.
‼ NOTÍCIA @EsportsRAC1
Denis Suárez decidirà el seu futur la setmana vinent. Propostes de Chelsea i Arsenal per sortir. O una d’aquestes dues, o seguirà al club fins al mes de juny. #frac1 pic.twitter.com/WOGYZJEBLZ
— El Barça juga a RAC1 (@FCBRAC1) January 4, 2019
Suarez has really struggled for game time this season, so far. By the start of December, he’d only made one start and one substitute appearance in all competitions. However, things got a bit better last month, as he scored two goals in a Copa Del Rey start, then made three further substitute appearances in La Liga and the Champions League.
Nonetheless, that still only adds up to 221 minutes of football across the entire campaign. It’s no wonder the midfielder responded to exit rumours by telling the Spanish media last month: “I work to play and I’m not having minutes. If I do not play … we’ll see.”
RAC1 claimed at the time that Barcelona had informed Suarez that he can leave for the right price, with Arsenal and AC Milan interested. However, it seems Milan have now dropped out of the race, to be replaced by Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Spanish outlet AS reported in November that Suarez had realised how far he was from the Barcelona first-choice starting eleven, and he wanted to secure a move away as a result. AS went on to claim that the Spaniard has made a Premier League move his priority, with Arsenal as a ‘favourite option’.
Suarez believes Unai Emery’s style of football would suit him perfectly. Emery already knows his strengths and weaknesses very well, having spent a year with the midfielder on loan at Sevilla when he was in charge there.
The pair won the Europa League together, but Suarez ended up completing a transfer to Villarreal at the end of the season. After a year, Barcelona exercised their buy-back clause, but it’s not exactly clear why, because they’ve never given him consistent starts since then.
We’ll see if Suarez decides to reunite with his former boss in the next week.