What Denis Suarez Brings to Barcelona and Why They Should Keep Him, Not Sell on

Like several of Europe’s biggest clubs, Barcelona are looking to start their summer work early in the transfer market, no doubt hoping to seal a few incoming deals for next season before the UEFA Euro 2016 or the Copa America get underway.

One of the most probable early deals they will conclude is that of signing Villarreal’s Denis Suarez, with the former Barca B player said to be keen on completing the deal as soon as possible, according to Marca’s Ramiro Aldunate.

It’s not quite as straightforward as it seems, though, with Barca potentially in the same boat as Real Madrid in the Alvaro Morata chase: They can buy back the player thanks to a prearranged agreement at a reasonable cost, then immediately sell him on for a quick profit, given the interest from other clubs.

In the case of Suarez, at least three Premier League clubs are credited with an interest in him, per Aldunate, while Zenit also tried to sign him in the winter transfer window.

There’s enough profit there for it to be worthwhile on Barca’s part selling him on this summer, but the greater value for them is in keeping and utilising him next season, when he could be an asset to the growth of the squad.

 

Making good

Finally, a season of progression. Now aged 22, for a long time it had seen as though Suarez, prodigiously talented as a youngster but never quite settling with a club, would fail to realise his enormous potential, but Villarreal proved to be the perfect nurturing ground for him to thrive in.

Suarez left Celta Vigo, where he was a youth player, for Manchester City in 2011, but only managed a couple of cup appearances. A move to Barcelona followed, where he only featured in the B team, before a largely unproductive loan at Sevilla last season. He played 46 times, but almost half of those came off the bench, and he barely managed a dozen full-90-minute displays all season.

In comparable game-time terms, he featured as much in La Liga for Sevilla in 2014-15 as Munir did for Barca this season—in other words, not a whole lot, all things considered.

The move to Villarreal was far more constructive, and Suarez has been a first-choice starter on either side of midfield. He showed his …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com