Man Utd, Chelsea ‘submit firm offers’ to steal Gyokeres replacement away from ‘frontrunners’ Arsenal | OneFootball

Man Utd and Chelsea have made offers to Spanish side Atletico Madrid to sign Arsenal transfer target Julian Alvarez, according to reports.

All three Premier League sides could do with a new striker with Man City’s Erling Haaland (20) and Brentford’s Igor Thiago (16) well in front in the goalscoring charts.

Chelsea and Man Utd have Joao Pedro and Bryan Mbeumo joint fifth in the Premier League top goalscorers with eight goals each, while Premier League leaders Arsenal don’t have a representative in the top 20.

Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres are both on five Premier League goals for the season and there have been rumours this week that Arsenal are now ‘frontunners’ in the race to sign former Man City striker Alvarez from Atletico Madrid.

And now reports in Spain claim Man Utd and Chelsea have ‘submitted firm offers’ for the Argentina international, who has contributed seven goals and three assists in 21 La Liga appearances this season.

The focus of the report is on Catalan giants Barcelona and adding on the offers from the two Premier League clubs, adds: ‘These are two projects with considerable financial resources, salaries far exceeding what Barca can currently offer, and a guaranteed leading role. The Catalan club is aware of this situation and acknowledges that it starts at a clear disadvantage.’

Although a move to the Camp Nou is appealing to Alvarez, the salary difference ‘weighs heavily on his final decision’ with Man Utd and Chelsea ‘pushing to complete the signing’.

The report continues: ‘Both clubs see Julian Alvarez as a complete striker, capable of making an immediate difference and leading an attacking project. The pressure from England is intense, and the message is clear: there’s a rush to decide.’

Former Tottenham and England striker Gary Lineker insists it “would be game over” for the rest of the Premier League if Arsenal signed Alvarez to compete with Gyokeres, who has disappointed since joining from Sporting CP in the summer.

“Gabriel Jesus has come back and scored one or two but there was a reason they needed to sign a new No. 9 in the first place.

“I like Jesus and always have, he’s got a great work ethic, he chases and harries and does get a few goals. He’s a bit streaky – when he’s on he’s on but when he’s off he a bit of a confidence player.

“It’s probably complete b*** as most of these things are on social media but I saw they were linked with Julian Alvarez who I know is not entirely happy with life at Atletico.

“Now that is the sort of player you know can handle the big occasion – he’s a World Cup winner for crying out loud. Someone like that at Arsenal would be game over.

“But they do need one or two of these current forwards to start scoring on a reasonably regular basis.”