Arsenal have been given the green light by Atletico Madrid to sign Argentina international Julian Alvarez this summer, according to reports.
The Gunners won the Premier League last season for the first time in 22 years, while they also reached the Champions League final. where they lost to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties.
Now Arsenal face the task of making a winning team even better with their attack the main focus of the Gunners’ summer recruitment drive.
Viktor Gyokeres scored 21 goals in 55 appearances in all competitions, not a disastrous return in his first Premier League season, but more was expected of his overall game and many fans would like to see better competition up front.
Arsenal have had Atletico Madrid’s Alvarez down as their dream signing all summer but there have been widespread reports that he would prefer a move to Barcelona.
The Catalan giants signed Karim Adeyemi this week but Fabrizio Romano insists that it won’t stop them from pursuing a deal for Alvarez, who will cost any interested club €150m (£130m).
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Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Even signing Karim Adeyemi, who will be in Barcelona [next] Wednesday, is not going to impact the deal for Julian Alvarez.
“They (Barcelona) still want to sign Julian, they will still go all-in for Julian Alvarez. [But] then, Atletico Madrid do not want to sell to Barcelona so the situation remains tense between the two clubs, we will have to see what happens.”
Atletico Madrid are ‘prepared to sanction a move to Arsenal’
However, Atletico Madrid have no intention of doing a deal with La Liga rivals Barcelona and our friends at TEAMtalk have now revealed that Atleti ‘have made it clear to Julian Alvarez’s camp that they are prepared to sanction a move to Arsenal this summer’.
Alvarez maintains that he still favours a summer move to Barcelona but TEAMtalk adds: ‘That has not stopped Arsenal from pushing. Sporting director Andrea Berta has held direct talks with Alvarez, and we understand that the striker would be open to the prospect of moving to the Premier League.
‘It is that willingness which continues to encourage Arsenal, who know they would have little difficulty reaching an agreement with Atletico Madrid should the player decide to look beyond Spain.’
The Athletic‘s James McNicholas insists that he could see Arsenal signing Alvarez this summer despite the Gunners needing the striker to change his stance on a move.
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McNicholas said: “I don’t rule out Arsenal signing Julian Alvarez. What I do know is that Mikel Arteta absolutely loves this player & whenever he is enamoured with a player to the degree he is with Alvarez, I can never rule out him getting his way…
“Practically, in terms of the money it would cost, what it might mean for the forward line, there are very, very significant hurdles to overcome. It’s one of those we have to wait & see.”
Paris Saint-Germain attacker Bradley Barcola is another player linked to the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal look to improve their wide areas too.
With Leandro Trossard set to move to Turkish side Besiktas, and Aston Villa demanding a huge deal for Morgan Rogers, it’s possible that Arsenal make a serious move for Barcola.
However, in a U-turn on their apparent stance last week, The Independent has claimed that PSG are now telling Arsenal, Liverpool and other clubs that the France international is not for sale this summer.
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