Arsenal transfer news latest: Denis Suarez set to seal loan move from Barcelona after negotiation breakthrough

Spanish midfielder is on the verge of joining Arsenal as his loan move until the end of the season has been agreed pending a formal announcement

Denis Suarez is expected to complete his move to Arsenal today after the club reached a breakthrough in negotiations with Barcelona.

The move appeared to be dead in the water last week after Arsenal refused to meet Barcelona’s demands, with the Spanish club determined to have any permanent transfer clause an obligation as opposed to Arsenal’s preference for it to be optional.

With Suarez out of contract at the Nou Camp at the end of next season, Barcelona were fully aware of the need to get him off their books on a permanent basis sooner rather than later in order to make a profit on the €3.5m they spent on him three years ago, but the 25-year-old now looks set to sign a one-year contract extension in order to seal his move to the Premier League.

Suarez was first offered to the Gunners back in December, as revealed by The Independent , and became enthused about the prospect of a reunion with Unai Emery after Arsenal began to show concrete interest in bringing him to London.

Arsenal's interest was only ever in a loan move with an option to buy in the summer. Short on transfer funds this month, they are interested in Suarez for the versatility he would bring to their midfield and his potential to improve further. While he is 25 years old, Suarez has only really had three full first-team campaigns where he has featured in the majority of games - one of those coming under Emery's orders at Sevilla.

Last week the chances of Suarez moving to Arsenal were damaged by the entrance into the market of Sevilla, who were willing to buy him outright. Barcelona preferred the option of cutting ties with Suarez, and were only willing to countenance a loan deal if Suarez signed a contract extension at the Nou Camp first.

While it was clearly a case of Barca protecting their own interests with regards to the player's expiring contract, Suarez was unwilling to extend his stay at the club for fear of it damaging his ability to secure a Bosman if things didn't work out in London, and sources close to the player say he had got used to the idea of seeing out the second half of the season as a substitute.

The idea would still be that Arsenal buy out Suarez's loan in the summer but the clause would be an option rather than a compulsory purchase.

Denis Suarez is ready to join Arsenal in a loan move from Barcelona (Getty)

Emery has been reassured by the Arsenal board that he will have money to spend on new players next summer.

“When we have the possibility to buy different players with big quality to help us with their performance, we can do that," he said.

"At the moment though the club is telling me this is not a good moment to buy new players,” Emery said ahead of today’s match against Cardiff.

“But the club say to me in the summer it is going to be different. And we are going to have chances to take and spend money to buy players.

“I know because I’ve spoken with the club, now the transfer market is difficult but we can take different chances in the summer.”