Guillem Balague issues update on Arsenal’s proposed deal to sign £22m star

The January transfer window is in full swing and managers are working hard on strengthening their squads and identifying targets for the summer so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest rumours. Today, the latest on Arsenal’s move for Denis Suarez…

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague claims Arsenal’s proposed deal to sign Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez is off after we refused to include an obligatory purchase clause in the loan deal.

Unai Emery has confirmed the club are working hard trying to strengthen the squad this month but we’re only able to secure loan signings as there is no money available for permanent transfers until the summer.

Suarez has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates in recent weeks after struggling to hold down a regular place in Ernesto Valverde’s starting eleven having played just a handful of La Liga games so far this season.

We’re been locked in negotiations with the Catalans over a potential deal that would see us sign Suarez on an initial six-month loan but talks stalled over the inclusion of an obligatory clause forcing us to make the move permanent in the summer.

The 25-year-old has just 18 months left on his contract so Barca are keen to secure his permanent sale now before his value drops any further but Arsenal want the option to make the deal permanent if things work out over the coming months.

It seems the two clubs have been unable to reach a compromise as Balague suggests the deal is off after Arsenal refused to include the clause that would have made the loan deal permanent for between £17.5m  and £21.8m in the summer.

Denis Suarez has decided to stay at #FCB at least till the end of the season after it became clear that #AFC would not agree the €20-25m obligatory clause to buy after the loan that Barcelona wanted to include in the deal pic.twitter.com/4mA38REoA9

— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) January 23, 2019

Several other media outlets are also reporting this news today so it seems Arsenal’s pursuit to sign Suarez has hit the buffers unless a compromise can be found with Barcelona over the coming days.

One solution may be for a set of conditions to be included in the deal. For example, the obligatory clause would only come in to effect if Suarez starts ‘X’ amount of games for Arsenal during his loan spell or we qualify for the Champions League.

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We’ll have to wait and see how things develop but I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear of Suarez’s proposed move to Arsenal and wouldn’t be surprised if we eventually find a breakthrough during the closing stages of the window.