Arsenal: Dennis Suarez the right type of deal

Arsenal are reportedly nearing a £14 million move for Denis Suarez. The midfielder is not the most high-profile addition, but he is the right type of signing that the Gunners should be pursuing.

Unai Emery is embarking on a project at Arsenal. That is how both he and Ivan Gazidis described it in the introductory press conference all the way back in May of this year. No one was under any illusions. This was always going to be a long-term process.

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As this season has proven, one of the primary objectives of Emery and the management at the club is to overhaul a squad that has been allowed to slide into a state of utter mediocrity. Many of these players are either too old or too average to contribute substantially to a title challenge.

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But in trying to revolutionise this squad and re-tool the options that Emery has available to him, Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat and Head of Football Raul Sanllehi are working on a limited budget. They do not have the mountains of cash like the Manchester clubs or Liverpool to completely rebuild this squad. They will have to be sensible in their spending, intelligent and ruthless in the players that they sell, and maintain a high hit-rate on successful acquisitions.

The type of players that they need to sign are those that have talent but for whatever reason are not liked at their current clubs or can be available on the cheap and coached up and improved, players that are not currently performing at their highest level, and then working to unlock that level once they arrive at the Emirates.

Cast your eye over the recent signings that Spurs have made and the prices that they have paid for key players like Toby Alderwiereld, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Heung-Min Son, Christian Eriksen, Ben Davies, Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele — there are plenty more to add to that list. Spurs have bought young, gifted individuals who can still improve. Every single one of those players is now worth more than what they were bought for.

But for all of the successful signings, there are the Clinton N’Jies, the Roberto Soldados, the Vincent Janssens. But Spurs are happy to take their shots at these players and see if they can unlock their true and full potential. They sign a lot of players in the £10-30 million range and then hope that their coaching can turn them into £50+ million players. More often than not, they succeed.

All of this brings me to Arsenal’s reported target this January, unwanted Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez. The soon-to-be 25-year-old has hardly been used at the Nou Camp, making just 16 La Liga starts since his return in the summer of 2016. He has played in just 41 minutes of league and Champions League action this season.

Suarez is allegedly seen as the long-term replacement for Ramsey. He certainly carries the same pedigree, position profile and potential, but he is not nearly the same calibre of player. Not yet, anyway. But that does not mean he cannot become a Ramsey successor. Talent-wise, he is capable, certainly. This far, though, he has not quite put it all together. But that is not to say that he won’t. Moreover, Emery has worked with him previously at Sevilla. He would not be coming to north London if Emery had not extolled his potential.

This potential — that is what Arsenal are buying here. They are most certainly not expecting Suarez to play at the same level and frequency as he has done at Barcelona — costs £14 million. Apparently. In today’s market, in which Dominic Solanke is moving for £19 million in the same week, that seems like a bargain to me.

Is Suarez actually any good? I don’t really know. Is he a Christian Eriksen or Clinton N’Jie? Again, I don’t know. But I’d pay £14 million to find out. That is what Arsenal are doing. And as they seek to overhaul this squad on a tight budget, that is precisely the type of signing they should be making.