Arsenal completed the loan signing of Denis Suarez from Barcelona on deadline day, with an option to buy this summer and varying reports around the exact value of that option.
Arsenal made no official statement on the value of their option to buy this summer. In fact, they didn’t even reveal its existence, simply stating that Suarez was ‘joining us from Barcelona on loan for the remainder of the season’. Barcelona, on the other hand, did confirm there’s a purchase option in the deal.
Let’s have a look at what other outlets are reporting, to try and gauge the exact amount Arsenal would have to pay to make the deal permanent:
- Marca: “€20m plus variables” (£17.6m)
- Mundo Deportivo: “€20m to €25m” (£17.6m to £21.9m)
- Evening Standard: “…around £20m”
- Guillem Balague: “…around €25m” (£21.9m)
- David Ornstein: “…in the range of €20-30m” (£17.6m to £26.3m)
- Sport: “€25m” (£21.9m)
- Gerard Romero: “…between €20-25m” (£17.6m to £21.9m)
- Sky Sports: “£20m”
- Metro: “…in the region of £18m”
Usually, David Ornstein would be the most reliable source for this kind of information, but he appears to have simply included the full range of possible transfer fees, so that doesn’t help much.
Gerard Romero of RAC1 was spot on for Suarez news in the January window, as a result of the Catalan radio station’s close ties to Barcelona. However, once again, he’s only given a range that doesn’t rule out any other report (other than the top end of Ornstein’s range).
What seems most likely is that Marca are right, that the deal is €20m (£17.6m) at first, with variables that could bring it up to €25m (£21.9m). That would explain why so many outlets can’t give a specific figure, because of the additional variables that could vary the exact amount.
Until we get any further updates, that’s what we’ll assume is the case. It’s a fairly cheap price to pay if the midfielder does reach his potential with Arsenal, and if he has a bad few months The Gunners can always pull out. Not a bad piece of business, overall.