Arsenal learn why Barcelona failed in Julian Alvarez move as £60m makeweight revealed | OneFootball

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has explained why Barcelona fell short in their pursuit of Julian Alvarez, as Arsenal concoct a plan involving Gabriel Martinelli to sign the Argentine striker.

Martinelli joined Arsenal from Brazilian side Ituano in 2019 and since then he has scored 62 goals in 278 games, the highlight of which was winning the Premier League title last season.

The 25-year-old played 53 times for Arsenal in 2025-26 but after the summer arrival of Christos Tzolis, Martinelli could be inching closer to an Emirates exit.

The Brazil international was left out of Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Manchester City and their 3-0 victory against Coventry City on Friday as they kickstarted their title defence in style.

While he has been the subject of an unsuccessful €45m (£38.5m) offer from Galatasaray, a move Martinelli was not interested in, there is no guarantee he will leave the Gunners before the 1 September transfer deadline.

But, fresh interest from Al-Hilal could lead to an exit after all, although Arsenal reportedly want £60m for the Brazil star – whose contract ends next summer, but there is an option to extend that a further year.

According to journalist Ben Jacobs, Martinelli didn’t want to go the Middle East last year so he would have to have a change of heart to make this move feasible.

He told talkSPORT on Sunday, “Well, he’s [Martinelli] got a future if they [Arsenal] don’t sign somebody in that position, but they clearly are sending a message that they’re looking. And if they find [someone], then Martinelli is somebody that they would be prepared to sanction.

“Galatasaray bid €45m. The player didn’t want to go there specifically. There’s interest from Al-Hilal as well. Al-Nassr were the club that were chasing Martinelli in the past. And a year ago, he didn’t want to go to Saudi Arabia. So he’d have to change his perspective there. But this is what clubs do.

“When you’ve got limited time, you pick a matchday squad. Some clubs would argue it’s not so much disrespecting the player as just protecting the player in case there’s a sale and not risking the fact that they could get injured if they play.”

Elsewhere, Arsenal are still pushing to recruit former Manchester City star Alvarez, who has made it clear he wants to leave Atletico this summer.

The 26-year-old stated he wants to “fulfil his dream” and secure a top move but Barcelona’s efforts to snap him up have been unfruitful.

Why Barcelona failed in Alvarez pursuit

Indeed, Cerezo touched on that this weekend.

He said, via Fabrizio Romano, “What I consider is that Barcelona wasn’t up to the circumstances and didn’t do what is normally done in this kind of situation.”

Perhaps Arsenal can learn from this somewhat cryptic statement. Reports suggest he will cost upwards of £100m, with some outlets his fee could be around £110m or even £130m.

To make such a move possible, the Gunners are eyeing a sale of Martinelli. Perhaps the proceeds from his deal could help towards an Alvarez transfer.

Jacobs continued, “We know if they’re to fund a Julian Alvarez or an equivalent player, Martinelli is the one that they can get a big enough fee for that it would make financial sense. And as a consequence, he’s frozen out for now because Arsenal realise he might be a player that could leave between now and the end of the window.

“And that’s disappointing from the player’s perspective. And it’s a tough one because if they don’t sign someone, he’s back in the fold and he’s very valuable and he knows that. And if they do sign someone, he’s quickly out of the picture. So he has to play a waiting game. And if Arsenal do sign somebody, maybe Martinelli changes his position about staying at Arsenal.”