Arsenal transfer news: Latest updates on Denis Suarez, Yannick Carrasco, Ivan Perisic and Christopher Nkunku
Arsenal are poised to sign Suarez, although moves for Perisic and Nkunku continue to look unlikely
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Arsenal’s January transfer targets: Denis Suárez (Barcelona), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Yannick Carrasco (Dalian Yifang), Christopher Nkunku (Paris Saint-Germain)
Arsenal are poised to make their first signing of the January 2019 transfer window.
Suárez has left Barcelona and is travelling to London and could be announced as an Arsenal player this afternoon.
The 25-year-old will join initially on loan, ahead of a mooted permanent move in the summer.
Throughout the window, Unai Emery has spoken about how he would like to sign “up to two” new players, with the club linked to several other midfield targets.
Denis Suárez
Denis Suárez is expected to sign for Arsenal today.
The 25-year-old will join Arsenal on loan, with an option to buy at the end of the season, as first reported by The Independent last month.
It has been reported in Spain this morning that Suárez will sign a contract extension at Barcelona to 2021, so they can protect his value regardless of how well he plays for Arsenal, and that the loan fee will be £2m.
Suárez’s current deal with Barcelona expires in the summer of 2020. He returned to the club from Villarreal in the summer of 2016 for around £3m and was a first-team regular in his first season back at the Camp Nou, but has become a peripheral figure under Ernesto Valverde.
He has appeared in just two La Liga matches this season, with the Barcelona coach wishing Suárez well in his future at a news conference on Monday.
Ivan Perisic
A deal for Croatia international Ivan Perisic is looking increasingly unlikely.
Perisic is desperate to move to the Premier League and handed in a transfer request in an attempt to force through a move to the Emirates, while chief executive Giuseppe Marotta hinted a deal was close.
“It is difficult to keep players that don’t want to stay but no offer has arrived yet so therefore the prerequisite for a transfer simply isn’t there,” he told Sky in Italy at the beginning of the week.
“This also happens at other teams, I am a supporter of a restrictive transfer window, but with the fact that it closes on the 31st [ of January], a lot of players wish to leave their clubs.”
However Inter’s refusal to adjust their £35m asking price quickly deterred Arsenal from making an official approach. Arsenal had hoped for a loan with an option to buy — similar to their Suárez offer — which The Independent understands Inter were never willing to consider.
Yannick Carrasco
It has been reported that Belgium international Yannick Carrasco could make a late move to Arsenal now that the club have ended their interest in Perisic.
Arsenal were linked with the 25-year-old earlier this window, who is eager to return to Europe from China and has long been admired by Emery.
Carrasco joined Dalian Yifang from Atletico Madrid last February and has scored seven goals in 26 games for the Super League side.
He has five goals in 34 games for Belgium, and was also a key part of the team that finished third in the 2018 World Cup.
However Arsenal could struggle to get a deal over the line at this very late stage. Carrasco is reportedly paid £8.8m-a-year in wages at the Chinese Super League side, meaning Dalian Yifang would need to subsidise his wages — and lower their £35m asking price — if he were to leave.
Christopher Nkunku
Emery is also a big fan of 21-year-old Nkunku, whom he worked with at Paris Saint-Germain.
However in a television appearance on Tuesday night, the player’s agent said he does not expect a move to materialise.
“I am here [in the studio] tonight, which is not a good sign,” Jose-Pierre Fanfan said on Canal + show Late Football Club, via GFFN.
“There is a real interest from Arsenal for Nkunku, but the discussions are quite complicated. There are restrictions from Arsenal’s side, they cannot do a transfer in the middle of the season.
“It is still being discussed with PSG, things could still happen in the next 48 hours, but as I said, the fact that I am here means that it does not look good.”
“His situation will be evaluated in June, then he will have just one year left on his contract, and his situation will need to be evaluated.
“He is a young boy, who needs to play, enjoy himself, and to sign up for a project for the long term, that is what he is looking for, and he was in that phase with Arsenal but it looks complicated. If we have to wait, then he is ready to do that, he will wait.”
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