On 17 May 2012, Suárez starred for against in , although Manchester City lost 2—0. Unai Emery's side were tipped to be one of the most active clubs in the January transfer window, even if they can only afford loan deals until the summer. Cast your eye over the recent signings that Spurs have made and the prices that they have paid for key players like Toby Alderwiereld, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Heung-Min Son, Christian Eriksen, Ben Davies, Jan Vertonghen and Moussa Dembele — there are plenty more to add to that list. Suárez played in the 2011—12 pre-season friendly match against , replacing in 88th minute. That is how both he and Ivan Gazidis described it in the introductory press conference all the way back in May of this year. Ramsey not only stayed but has scored three of his four Premier League goals this season since the turn of the year and the same is true of Alex Iwobi in all competitions.
He brings us quality and options in many different attacking positions, so he'll be able to help the team. In the next round of the League Cup, he made his competitive debut for the club when he replaced in the 67th minute in the 5—2 win against. He works every day with a very big ambition to improve, because he loves football. But Spurs are happy to take their shots at these players and see if they can unlock their true and full potential. Despite welcoming five new arrivals in his first transfer window, one of which was a free deal, Emery is still to shape his squad to his liking.
Unai Emery is embarking on a project at. He is outperformed by the Liverpool midfielder for goals, assists, shots, xG and key passes per 90, as shown below. They do not have the mountains of cash like the Manchester clubs or Liverpool to completely rebuild this squad. Every single one of those players is now worth more than what they were bought for. Crucially though, Arsenal would then be able to use Suarez in a similar manner to Barcelona in the past two seasons, by playing him sporadically when there's a need for him to take advantage of his impressive numbers when playing fewer minutes. This potential — that is what Arsenal are buying here.
Suárez was a 71st-minute substitute in the final against Greece and made six appearances at the Championships, scoring twice and playing 284 minutes. How Suarez and Lallana compare Image: Understat Given the variance and lack of recent data to judge Suarez on, it's likely that Emery's interest derives from his experience coaching him in 2014. In his first season, Suárez managed only 12 La Liga starts. The Gunners won the game 3-2 with Suarez among the best performers. During that one year together they won the Europa League. Speaking ahead of his team's Premier League clash with West Ham, Emery ruled out any permanent signings in the January window. And yet, the 25-year-old Spaniard is still waiting for his first start.
He is a player who Emery knows well having worked with him at Sevilla. Many of these players are either too old or too average to contribute substantially to a title challenge. Since then, there has been an improvement. Suarez is allegedly seen as the long-term replacement for Ramsey. And as they seek to overhaul this squad on a tight budget, that is precisely the type of signing they should be making.
The midfielder is not the most high-profile addition, but he is the right type of signing that the Gunners should be pursuing. However, Suarez's sample size is considerably smaller due to the fact that he has played so infrequently. On assists, goals and shots per 90, as well as Expected Goal xG , Suarez is superior. Talent-wise, he is capable, certainly. They are most certainly not expecting Suarez to play at the same level and frequency as he has done at Barcelona — costs £14 million. That player would be one that he's worked with before, so there would be no question marks regarding attitude or work rate.
In late February, Emery preached patience. Last time out against Newcastle, Ozil was named man of the match. Across those 33 appearances, his output surpasses Mesut Ozil in pretty much every attacking metric per 90 minutes according to Understat, as pictured below. There have been five further appearances from the bench since then but all of them have been brief. Something their head coach says he needs. It's much easier to post solid numbers when you're being substituted on for Barcelona with 20 minutes remaining at which point Suarez's team will be leading in most cases and the opposition are either tired or chasing the game. He would not be coming to north London if Emery had not extolled his potential.
On the other hand, there's another profile of Suarez based on his previous three seasons of football. With Emery trying to impose his style of play at Arsenal, Suarez was seen as an ideal signing to help with that transition. A solution that benefits Arsenal is clear. Has the form of others been keeping him out? He was also a member of the which won the. Join the Pain In The Arsenal team! He also converted a penalty in the penalty shootout in the same game.
Does he still have a future role to play at Arsenal? After what threatened to become a true transfer saga, they have finally got Suarez over the line and are expected to complete another deal to bring in an out-and-out winger before the close of play on deadline day. It may be that even without getting into the starting line-up, Suarez has provided some much-needed competition on the training ground. Suarez got his first start for Arsenal against Al-Nasr during their recent trip to Dubai and set up the opening goal with a reverse pass to Carl Jenkinson. Already familiar with English football, having been at Manchester City as a youngster, the expectation was that Suarez would be able to adjust quickly and play an important role for the remainder of the season. During the 2013—14 season he played mostly for in the Spanish to continue his development. But that does not mean he cannot become a Ramsey successor.