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Arsenal are hopeful of completing a deal to sign Denis Suarez from Barcelona by the weekend, as per The Mirror.

The Gunners want to sign the 25-year-old on loan, and progress has been made as they attempt to finalise their first acquisition of the January transfer window.

What's the word?

The Mirror claim that Suarez has been identified as a potential replacement for Aaron Ramsey, who could move to Juventus this month instead of in the summer if the Barcelona man is brought in.

Barcelona signed Kevin-Prince Boateng from Sassuolo in a surprise deal on Monday, as reported by BBC Sport, leaving Arsenal with a seemingly clear run at signing Suarez this week.

And quotes from Barca boss Ernesto Valverde, as reported by The Mirror, suggest players could leave.

He said: “We are happy with the squad but there are always possibilities for departures for those who maybe do not feature as often.

“Those players could stay here and we would be happy or they could leave in search of more opportunities, we will evaluate all possibilities for them. We work internally and there is a lot of planning involved of which I am a part, but we will see how the market progresses.”

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Suarez, who can play in central midfield and on either flank, has played just 17 minutes of La Liga football this season across two games, against Espanyol and Levante.

Expectations high

Suarez, with his 17 minutes of league football behind him, is expected to come in and replace Ramsey, who has bafflingly been allowed to leave.

The Welshman, by comparison, has 20 Premier League games under his belt this season, totalling 888 minutes, and has scored two goals and provided six assists - as per Whoscored. He will be a key player for Juventus.

There is, then, some pressure surrounding the 25-year-old, despite him never really being given a major chance at Barca. He has been at the club since 2016, and in three years has played 46 La Liga games.

Of course, one could argue that the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets are hard to dislodge from a starting XI, but Arsenal fans would do well to temper expectations surrounding the potential signing.

Suarez will take some time to get up and running, and this deal should certainly be regarded as a punt.