Denis Suárez, two years of development

Unless there are any last minute changes, Denis Suárez will be forming part of the FC Barcelona first team in the 2016/17 season, as revealed by Robert Fernández at his press conference this week.

The technical secretary announced that these intentions have already been reported to Villarreal, the club that the player currently belongs to. On July 1, Villarreal will be formally notified that Barça will be exercising its right to repurchase the midfielder. Suárez shall therefore be returning to the team that he left in the summer of 2014 in search of new opportunities and the chance to play more football.

He got just that and passed the test with flying colours, and has also been able to add a major trophy to his résumé, the Europa League won in 2015 with Sevilla. Denis Suárez made 46 competitive appearances for the Andalusians, scoring six goals.

The following season at Villarreal, who he joined last August, gave him plenty more experience of top level football. He played 48 games and scored five goals.

* GP= Games Played / GS= Games Started / G= Goals / A= Assists
Opta data

Back to Barcelona

Denis Suárez joined Barça B from Manchester City in 2013, and appeared in 36 games in the second division, scoring seven goals and providing ten assists. A number of Liga clubs expressed interest, and he would eventually go on loan to Sevilla. A year later, the agreement with Barça was terminated and the player headed for Villarreal. But a clause in the contract offered the Catalans the option to buy the player back, and following some wonderful performances in the last two years, that’s an option Barça have decided to exercise.