Huge Arsenal transfer boost as Romano confirms Barcelona ‘deal is off’ for Julian Alvarez | OneFootball

Arsenal have been given a huge boost in their pursuit of Julian Alvarez with Fabrizio Romano now ruling out a transfer to Barcelona.

The Gunners are looking to add quality over quantity to their group this summer after Mikel Arteta guided them to their first Premier League title win in 22 years last season.

Arsenal also reached the final of the Champions League and they are looking to give Arteta the best chance of replicating last season’s success.

Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis are the main two standout additions this summer to replace Leandro Trossard and Christian Norgaard, who have left for Besiktas and Everton respectively.

Arsenal are still keen to bring in a left-sided or versatile attacker before the transfer window shuts, while Atletico Madrid’s Alvarez is a long-term target to improve their forward line.

The Gunners have been playing second fiddle to Barcelona all summer with widespread reports indicating that a move to the Catalan giants is Alvarez’s first choice.

However, Romano could have given Arsenal’s chances of landing Alvarez a boost with news that “the story is over” for Barcelona in the race for the Argentina international.

Alvarez to Barcelona ‘is off’ – Romano

Romano said on his YouTube channel: “We need to, once again, clarify the many questions we are receiving about Julian Alvarez. In reality guys, I know in the last hours the reports are that Barcelona believe 90 per cent, 99 per cent it’s over for Julian. But the reality is that absolutely nothing has changed over the last 24 hours.

“The reality is that Barcelona have been waiting and hoping and trying to understand if there was even a little way to enter into this deal until the very end – but the feeling and message coming from Atletico Madrid, not just in public, but even in private all the conversations they had with the player and with his agent, Atletico Madrid always made clear that they were not going to sell Julian Alvarez, especially to Barcelona.

“So the message coming from Atletico Madrid has always been very strong. very clear and so from Barcelona nothing has changed. Apart from waiting and waiting and waiting, in terms of concrete updates, nothing has changed.

“From Atletico Madrid, they make it very clear, the story is over, the deal is off. It’s not just Atletico Madrid, it’s the manager of Atletico Madrid. And we all know, those who follow football, Diego Simeone is not just a manager, he’s Diego Simeone, he’s the face of Atletico Madrid.

“And when Simeone goes public and says the owners spoke and said that the player is staying, this is like going to court, Simeone says, there is no way back.

“This way, in public, in private, with the coach, with the CEO, Atletico Madrid’s position looks absolutely clear.”