Julian Alvarez celebrates Argentina’s goal (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arsenal have been interested in Julian Alvarez behind the scenes this summer, with Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth explaining how the Gunners could make a move for the Atletico Madrid striker.
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Atlético have publicly stated that Alvarez is not for sale, but the Gunners appear to be lurking in case a major development is made with the Argentina international.
Sheth explains that at some point Alvarez himself may ask for permission to leave, in which case Atletico may favor a sale to Arsenal rather than La Liga rivals Barcelona, so read below for more details…
For now, Atlético seem absolutely determined to keep Alvarez, with no clear indication yet that the player himself is pushing for a move.
Alvarez is currently participating in the World Cup with Argentina, so his focus will undoubtedly be on this weekend’s final against Spain rather than activity in the transfer market.
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Do Arsenal have a chance in the Julian Alvarez transfer race?
It makes sense for Barcelona to pursue Alvarez, as the 26-year-old was a prolific goalscorer during his time in Spain and would be an ideal long-term replacement for departing veteran striker Robert Lewandowski.
Alvarez scored 49 goals in 106 appearances in his two seasons at Atlético, so he could take his game to an even higher level at clubs like Barça or Arsenal.
It would be quite a statement if Arsenal could sign him as an upgrade over the slightly less convincing Victor Gokeres, but he has a £500m release clause so it would obviously be very expensive.
The AFC will obviously try to negotiate to lower it, but Atlético don’t seem to be willing to negotiate with anyone at the moment.
Unless Alvarez makes it clear that he wants to leave, this story doesn’t seem to get particularly interesting.
