The January chatter about transfers has well and truly begun, and with Arsenal in need of some reinforcements this month, we’re being linked across various media with a short-term loan move for Denis Suarez.
The Barcelona midfielder is a player well known by Unai Emery, he had him on loan for the 2014-15 season at Sevilla during which they won the Europa League. Suarez remained on the bench for the final as the Spanish side beat Dnipro 3-2 in the final, but played 46 games for the now Arsenal boss during that campaign.
At 24 he’s been around the block a bit, spending two years at Man City before joining Barcelona B. They sold him to Villarreal where he spent one season before the Catalans exercised a buy-back clause and brought him back to the Camp Nou.
Last season he made 18 La Liga appearances, scoring two goals and making two assists, but is out of favour this year with just two substitute appearances to his name.
He can play centrally, or wider on the left, which would make him an option for Emery who is coping without Danny Welbeck and lacks options in a front three, but there would have to be question marks about what kind of an impact he’d have given his lack of playing time this season.
We’re a bit dubious on this one, although the vague unsuitability of it makes us feel like it could happen, and of course there is the Barcelona connection at the top of the club with Raul Sanllehi as our Head of Football, so we’re giving this one a 5 on the Poo-o-Meter.
I swear to god he is no better than el-neny.
People haven’t yet realised how similar Guendouzi is to Elneny
Are you talking about their hairstyles? Yeah. They do have similar in length hair…
Is this one of those opinions that one makes to stand out from the crowd but could not be further from the truth?
Wow am glad you also see it too Dave… They are so similar, keeping it simple with the passes most time…i hope Guendouzi improves further as he’s still got time on his side… You just need to look at Fabregas @17 to realize that Guendouzi isn’t really setting the World alight like people keep saying
Sigh, I hate these reductive arguments of comparing players ages to others as indication of where they’ll be. People keep doing it to Iwobi to indicate he’ll never be good enough, now you’re comparing Guendz to Cesc?
Here’s a list of players who weren’t doing the same as Cesc was at 17;
– Zidane
– Vieira
– Drogba
– Lampard
– Gilberto
etc. I could go on forever. Suffice to say, player developments aren’t equally linear, and neither is player potential.
It’s a stupid way of making whatever point you’re trying to make.
Thank you!
Rubbish, whilst 17 is obviously an outlier in terms of progress, 22 years old and 120+ games isn’t. There’s more than enough evidence to see how a players career is going to go at that point especially if playing for a big club and along side top players, which as far as i can remember none of the players you listed had at that point (with the exception of Vieira, whom was phenomenal aged 20 for us) If you’re playing alongside world class attacking talent like Alexis, Ozil and Aubameyang and your numbers are still shit the chances are they’re… Read more »
Apart from being quicker, stronger, more aggressive, having a better first touch and being a better passer than Elneny (despite being 6/7 years younger than him)…yes, Guendouzi is really similar to Elneny.
Right now I actually think Elneny is a better player than Guendouzi, he is much more composed and makes better decisions, and his positioning and movement are top class. I think he’s quite an underrated player to be honest.
Agree, just not the kind of player we need. However this Denis Suarez is a poor Ramsey I feel.
To be fair, it would be hard to find a central midfielder of recent times, who were on Cesc’s level at the age of 17.
They are different on the pitch but El-Neny never got a run of games to prove himself since he came to Arsenal. Whenever they put him in games, it is after he has lost reflexes and timing, all those attributes matches make you maintain. In terms of game time, Guendouzi was spoilt.
Sometimes I wonder if some football fans even comprehend the game of football when I read comments like this.
if you’re letting Ramsey go for free, the least you should do is sign an upgrade.
Not leftovers.
i think we should go for it. barcelona first team is not an easy team to get into. in addition to the excellent technical qualities(think messie busquets dembelle) he should also have balls of steal to withstand the pressure to play for one of the best team in the world. and even with all this there is always a certain level of luck involved. i dont know suarez any better, but historically its been proved that any player who is struggling at barcelona would be successful after he moves to any other team.because you have to be good player for… Read more »
Or Bojan who plays for Stoke now
Song \ Vermalen
I totally agree – we had the same kerfuffle about Sanchez before he arrived – turned out to be a gem. If this kid wasn’t that good, why did Barcelona buy him back? They have paid for him twice now – why would they if he was moped rider?
Or Ibrahim Afalley
or Troure of borough and wolves
These players are youth products, not players bought by Barca. Big difference. You can’t write him off for not being better than Busquets, Vidal, Coutinho etc
Reminds of isco, clearly has a talent but it is very dificult to get your chance in barca team as you can see the sell one of the best in alexis who couldnt get a place in the team. Could be a great deal.
Helb
I need somebody
https://youtu.be/oEnKKUFUqvU
A good look this leftover you speak of. I know any player looks good in compilations, but this guy featured quite much before Arthur Coutinho and Vidal started to compete to make him third choice.
Yay for Poo-o-meter!
Lots of commentators are saying this is not Emery’s team, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes for a few familiar faces that understand his system. I don’t feel like the pressing system or passing out from the back have really been bedded down.
If Emery wants “his” team and “his” players, he can back to Sevilla. Or you imply Arsenal players are too stupid or non talented to understand the new tactics. Then Sevilla players > Arsenal.
Haha what?
“GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM, U WENGURSSS JUURBBSSS”
This is not Emery’s team and it will never be. You guys still haven’t computed that we don’t have a manager anymore, we have a coach now. He’ll play the players he’s given.
Its not Real where the owner picks the team. Emery has a wish-list like every other coach and prob works with head scout, director of football etc to identify targets. the coach will spend the bulk of time with said player than anyone else, it would be dumm to not listen to him when spending multi-millions.
Was hoping to see us linked to some decent central defenders (& maybe one or two fullbacks). Very worried after seeing this video analysis of Arsenal’s expected goals against for the season:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik
Is this the non-bitey one?
Yep….he’s also the no goal scorey one, the benchey one and the non-entity one.
There were high expectations surrounding this kid but, like many others at Barca (Deulofeu, Montoya, Samper, Espinosa, Traore, Munir, etc) they haven’t materialised.
I really hope it doesn’t happen but as blogs says the sheer unsuitability of it makes it a nailed on deal
Should add a pound to whatever we offer for him then? Yeah??
Isn’t this someone Everton would sign?
Yeap, that’s why we are signing him.
Then we can sell him to Everton for ONE HUNDRED MILLION POUNDS BUWAHAHAHAHAHA!
TBF Everton also signed Arteta, who couldn’t even get into the Spanish squad.
Did well for us.
Unfortunately, that’s pretty much our level now. At least when it comes to signing players. Sad!
If we got him on loan then it wouldn’t surprise me, hopefully we can sell Rambo+Elneny this month? Promote Willock and use the funds to buy a centre half.
Ornstein says we’re skint, it’s really starting to look that way, hopefully we can wheel and deal our way to a decent centre half this month, however a right sided forward looks well out of our capabilities.
Emery looks right up against it.
Why would anyone sell Elneny if he is happy with the role he has. He is not bad player and always plays his part. At the end of the last season he was one of our best players. Played against Burnley and did very solid job. He should get more chances. He is the closest player to Xhaka we have in the team. Great squad player.
Because he need to be playing to stay in the Egyptian squad. He also clearly isn’t rated by Emery, and is one of the few assets we could probably make a profit on.
The role of “very solid job here and there” would be better given to the likes of AMN, Smith-Rowe and maybe even Willock.
This the model of football we need to follow now.
I don’t know if we’d get enough to make the loss of Ramsey for the rest of the season worthwhile. If we were somehow able to I would hope we would get something more useful out of it in the defensive department, which would be great. But if there is anything to this it might be the admission we’re getting nothing for Ramsey and this is what we have to work with until the end of the season. I don’t know that a left winger is really what we need, Iwobi is far better on the left than the right,… Read more »
I saw him play a couple of times when he was at Villareal. He looked very good that season which is why Barca bought him back.
If I remember correctly though, he is more of a No.10, maybe No.8 than a winger.
If I had to compare him to someone it would probably be Isco. He’s more the typical Wenger prototype: small, trchnically gifted, low centre of gravity…
I like him but don’t think it’s what we need.
We might be losing two n10 in six months so maybe exactly what we need
What’s up with Banega?
What is with a defender?
Sounds as though he’s happy where he is.
How difficult and costly is it to bring someone back from on loan? Nelson and Chambers would be getting plenty of minutes now had they stayed with us
Nelson has developed due to his loan abroad…
Yeah i agree – but if we need a wide player and central defender couldn’t Nelson and Chambers be recalled? Or is that just something you do on fifa
If a recall isn’t included in their loan contracts, then for the season, we may as well say that they don’t exist.
Loans are always welcome. Cost is low and adds bodies for FA cup, Europa etc
He does look like Ramsey though, so could be a direct replacement.
Can we stop arsing around and bring in a solid defender or two?
With Kos, Nacho, Hector and Mavropanos all approaching fitness now, I actually don’t think it’s worth us getting a defender unless it’s someone top class who’s really going to improve us. And I don’t think we’re going to be able to find/afford that in January.
I’d rather wait and get someone we really want in summer, than get another bargain stop-gap defender in January.
I really can’t see us doing much this window.
Yep I would agree with that. We’ll have more money in the summer anyway due to the Adidas deal starting, and we’ll also know if we’re going to playing Champions League or Europa League so that will factor into the budget too. We’re the 3rd highest scorers in the league, so maintaining that statistic, regardless of our poor defending, is our best hope of finishing in the top 4. I don’t mind if we keep winning games 3-1 or 2-1.
I suspect we might see the sale of another of our bigger players as well to help fund some changes.
Agree with you on the flanks, but it’s centre back where we have a major problem. Holdings injury has been a big loss. Mustafi is not reliable. Mavropanos untested. Kos ageing. Sokratis generally good (if he can avoid kicking strikers in the box). We need 4 decent centre backs to cover the competitions we are in. We have maybe 2.
Worth investing good money in an upgrade now. Our defense have conceded 31 goals thats more than Newcastle or Palace. If we can’t fix this we are not going to make the Champions League.
“Worth investing good money on an upgrade now”.
Completely agree, and I’m sure the Arsenal hierarchy I agree with you, too.
But have you considered….maybe those “upgrades” aren’t available in January (as they often aren’t)?
Except Troy Deeney. Sokratis can feel free to kick him where and whenever.
Chelsea are selling Cesc…..
Why don’t we go for Malcom instead? A bit more relevant to our needs now.
But can he play in the middle?
Do you guys not know who he is? He played good amount of matches for Barca until Coutinho arrived.
Right footed dribbler with flair who can play as midfielder or on either wings. Transfer price around 15 million pounds or a cheap loan deal.
He will pleasantly surprise you all. And it does seem likely he could come.
Yep, you’re right but he’s a poor finisher.perhaps Auba and Laca will do that while he sows the webs behind them? Makes sense bearing in mind that we’ve lacked a little extra creativity in most crucial matches recently.
A bit sobering when you keep reading about United going after Koulibaly next summer and Liverpool going after Timo Werner. Arsenal are no longer a ‘big’ team, we are Everton 2.0. Thanks a lot, Stan. How is Suarez going to help us stop embarrassing ourselves almost every week in the back. If we’re gonna spend 15 million on an out-of-favor player from a much better squad, why can’t it be a defender? If we play a semi-injured, aging, ramshackle cut-and-paste back line against City, Spurs, Chelsea, even United, Wolves, Watford again, we will lose. We can barely keep Fulham out… Read more »
I’m surprised by the lukewarm reaction here; this guy hasn’t had much of as chance at Barca but he looks a good player at 24. He reminds me a little of Ramsey, actually, but with a bit more poise and quicker feet. He can disappear from games, but he’d make a good addition to our midfield options or give us something different out wide.
A lot of Barca fans online seem to want him to get more chances, which I reckon is a good sign given their midfield talent.