£150m striker is down to last two transfer options as August deadline becomes irrelevant | OneFootball

Julian Alvarez’s future still seems very open, but the reality may be that it’s actually already sorted, he just doesn’t want to admit it.

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One by one, the big transfer dominoes of the summer are falling. But there is still one massive, £120m+ deal out there waiting to congeal into something more serious.

Julian Alvarez started the summer hot, pushing to leave Atletico Madrid and going as far as to release public statements about it. A move to Real Madrid looked possible for a while, but eventually Los Blancos gave up and moved on.

Barcelona also want Alvarez and he wants to go to the Nou Camp, but Atletico insist he won’t be leaving for anything less than an astronomical fee, and Barcelona don’t seem ready to match that.

Barca president Joan Laporta has now set an August 10th deadline, at which point he will move on to other targets. Perhaps he should start now, as TeamTalk are reporting that Atletico have decided to sell to a direct domestic rival.

Alvarez down to two possible exits

It feels like there are very limited options for Alvarez here. Arsenal and PSG are his only remaining options. Neither feels likely to be willing to pay the potential £150m+ it would take to sign the Argentine, but it’s also not impossible.

Arsenal have been linked with a move that would see Viktor Gyokeres go the other way to reduce the cost – although that sounds like wishful thinking.

There could yet be one big twist in this tale – otherwise Alvarez will be back in Madrid training before too long.