Arsenal to announce 1st January signing today: Deal agreed to land 25-year-old star

The January transfer window is coming to a close so 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, Arsenal are set to sign Denis Suarez…

Arsenal will announce their first signing of the January window today after agreeing a £2.1m deal to sign Denis Suarez on an initial loan from Barcelona, according to the Evening Standard.

Suarez has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal this month after Unai Emery identified the Spaniard as a prime transfer target as the boss looks to strengthen his squad for the second half of the season.

The 25-year-old was reportedly keen to join Arsenal in search of regular first team football after struggling to establish himself at the Nou Camp but the proposed move looked off after talks with Barcelona stalled over the structure of the deal.

Suarez has just 18 months left on his current contract so Barca wanted to either sell this month or have an obligation to buy clause included in any loan deal, while Arsenal made it clear they only wanted the option to turn the loan move permanent in the summer.

It seems a compromise has been found as the Evening Standard claim that Suarez has now agreed to sign a one-year contract extension with Barcelona which will protect his value should Arsenal chose not to make the deal permanent at the end of the season.

The newspaper says that Suarez is set to sign his one-year extension this afternoon and his loan switch to Arsenal will then be announced later in the day with the Gunners paying £2.17m to take the midfielder on loan until the summer.

Spanish newspaper AS is one of several other outlets also reporting this story and they say Arsenal will have the option to sign Suarez for £17.3m at the end of the season if the loan move works out for all parties.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news

Suarez is keen to work with Unai Emery again having played under him at Sevilla in 2014/15 and we should have our first January signing wrapped-up over the coming hours. The Spaniard is an attacking midfielder who can play centrally or on the wing so he should be a solid addition to the squad.