Julian Alvarez’s name has been closely tied to Barcelona all summer, with the Argentine international emerging as the club’s top choice to replace Robert Lewandowski.
Barcelona, though, have been unable to convince Atletico Madrid to sell him, with Los Rojiblancos not willing to sell their top attacking asset on a cut-price deal.
Barcelona have been working on ways to sign Alvarez, but it appears Arsenal have emerged as an unlikely competition in the race to sign the forward this summer.
Arsenal’s shock agreement with Atletico Madrid
According to a bombshell report from El Chiringuito, Arsenal have an agreement in place with Atletico Madrid over Alvarez.
It appears Atleti are ready to sell the Argentine international in exchange for just €50 million and Viktor Gyokeres.
This is a significant development, though one that should only be taken with a pinch of salt for now. Arsenal, after all, have never been associated with concrete interest in Alvarez.
The deal would make sense from Atletico Madrid’s perspective, since the Spanish giants could welcome the arrival of a more conventional number nine such as Gyokeres.
The report calls the agreement a done deal, though it is unclear whether or not Alvarez himself is ready to move to Arsenal.
Atletico Madrid’s phone call to Barcelona
As far as Barcelona are concerned, El Chiringuito adds that Atletico Madrid president Gil Marin personally called his Barcelona counterpart, Joan Laporta.
Marin informed Laporta that Alvarez is not for sale, making it clear that Atleti do not want to sell the Argentine international to a direct rival.
While a move to Arsenal remains a possibility, it will be interesting to see how Alvarez reacts and whether or not he pushes for a move to Barcelona.
The key for Barça will be to play the waiting game and hope he can pressurise Atletico Madrid to sell him late in the window. For now, the Argentine remains focused on his World Cup campaign, with La Albiceleste starting off with a strong 3-0 win over Algeria, courtesy of a Lionel Messi hat-trick.
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