Arsenal’s new signing Denis Suarez couldn’t have asked for a better reintroduction to Premier League football.
Having signed for the Gunners from Barcelona on transfer deadline day on Thursday, Suarez might be tossed straight into the lion’s den when Arsenal travel to champions Manchester City on Sunday (6.30 pm).
Luckily for the 25-year-old winger he is familiar with the surroundings, having been a City player before being sold to Barcelona in 2013.
And he has an appeltjie to skil with his former employers, having been sold despite winning the club’s Young Player of the Season in 2012.
With City already wounded after having lost 2-1 to Newcastle on Tuesday night, Suarez, who also played under Arsenal boss Unai Emery at Sevilla, will smell blood.
To make matters worse for Pep Guardiola’s defending champions, their only fit senior goalkeeper, Ederson, is a doubt for the clash after suffering a gash to the knee against Newcastle, while star playmaker Kevin de Bruyne is still not able to play 90 minutes after coming back from injury recently.
Guardiola, though, has defended De Bruyne, saying he can’t shoulder all the responsibility for their stuttering title defence.
He says: “It’s everybody, not one player. When Kevin plays well it’s because the central defenders, the fullbacks help him.
“I don’t put the pressure on one player’s shoulders, to solve our problems.”