Denis Suarez's future at Barcelona is in Valverde's hands
Valverde must decide whether he sees a place for Suarez, who doesn't want to leave, in his plans for next season
The case of Denis Suarez isn't like most others at Barcelona. The player, who has a contract which runs until 2020 with an option of an additional year and a buyout clause of €50m, has just completed his second season at the Camp Nou. After successful spells at Sevilla and Villarreal, Barcelona decided to exercise their right to buy Suarez back and the player only wants to succeed at the club.
FROM LESS TO MORE
With Luis Enrique, Suarez played nine matches and 658 minutes more than he did under Ernesto Valverde. After spending a lot of weeks watching from the stands the situation changed in the final stretch of the season and Suarez was given more opportunities to demonstrate his value to the team. When Suarez wasn't being picked, he didn't complain or criticise the coach but instead worked silently in the hope his situation would change. Through patience and perseverance, it did, and he finished the season strongly.
Since then Suarez has commented both publicly and in private that his only objective is to succeed at Barcelona. He doesn't even want to listen to offers which come in for him. Suarez's attitude is something both the staff and his teammates appreciate, who value how hard he works for the team. There are people who compare his situation to that of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez when they first started out at Barcelona. They believe Suarez has the talent and quality to explode when he finally receives the run of games he needs.
THE MANAGER WILL HAVE THE FINAL SAY
For this reason, from inside Barcelona, they believe it is up to Ernesto Valverde to decide whether Suarez is a player he is going to use next season. At the moment the player hasn't asked to leave nor is he someone the club are willing to listen to offers for. It appears his future will depend on Valverde's verdict as well as who is brought in this summer. The idea is to streamline the squad compared to the previous campaign.
There's still time to make a decision one way or another but the fact he forced his way into Valverde's plans at the end of the season is something which counts in his favour. Suarez is expected to start preseason with the first team and then it'll be up to the coach to make a decision.
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