Arsenal: Denis Suarez still the right decision

Denis Suarez has played just 95 minutes since signing for Arsenal in January. While that may seem like a wasted investment, criticism of the move misses the advantage of hindsight.

As soon as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made it clear that he did not want to stay at Arsenal, the squad was going to be lopsided. After the January departures of Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott, the Gunners were already lacking in true wingers. Chamberlain’s exit, without a replacement brought in, only compounded that issue.

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Indeed, the anticipated problems out wide played out during the opening months of the season. Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan worked tirelessly to fill out the wide roles, but neither are the elite, direct attackers that the top teams require.

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With little money to completely overhaul the position, in January, Unai Emery had to find a temporary, depth-filling solution. Mkhitaryan was dealing with a foot problem, Danny Welbeck was done for the year, while Mesut Ozil cast aside thanks to mysterious illnesses and questions regarding his attitude. And so, Emery, seeking to find a player that he understood and believed could slot in quickly, turned to former Sevilla and unused Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez.

After an extended transfer saga throughout the January transfer window, Suarez was eventually signed to a six-month loan deal. His addition was not to solve the wide problems per se. A much more substantial signing would need to be made for that. It was simply to throw another body into the mix in the hope that the squad could limp through to the end of the season without their lack of wingers completely derailing the team.

Since Suarez’s arrival, however, Iwobi’s performances have improved, Mkhitaryan has returned from injury and looked markedly sharper, while Ozil was welcomed back into the fold and has since established himself as a must-start attacker. Suddenly, the need for Suarez was not so urgent. His 95 minutes of action is proof of that.

But criticising the move belies the role of hindsight. At the time, Arsenal were unquestionably desperate for another winger, so much so that it almost didn’t matter who it was. They just needed another body. And with little money to invest, potential options were extremely limited. Suarez was one of only a few that ticked many of the boxes.

The only reason that Suarez has not been more heavily involved is that everything that could have fallen right at the winger position has. Mkhitaryan returned to form, Iwobi has continued to play well, and Emery has changed formation to use two strikers, negating the need for two starting wide players.

Criticising the Suarez transfer, then, misses the point of the signing in the first place. He was not brought in to start; he was brought in as a contingency plan. Thankfully, that plan has not been required. But that does not make his signing a bad one.