Journalist claims "done deal" for Arsenal to sign Alvarez in surprise swap - a look at how reliable these claims really are | OneFootball

Arsenal have reportedly agreed a swap deal with Atletico Madrid which will see Julian Alvarez and Viktor Gyokeres move in either direction.

The Gunners are one of the clubs to have been linked with Alvarez in recent times, along with Barcelona, but journalist Jota Jordi has now provided a major update to El Chiringuito.

See the video clip below as the Spanish journalist claims that Barca asked again about Alvarez, only to be told that the Argentina international is not for sale and that an agreement is in place for a swap deal for Gyokeres…

It remains to be seen how accurate this is for a number of reasons, but Arsenal fans will no doubt be interested to see this story gaining momentum.

Swap deals are pretty rare in football, despite there often being many transfer rumours about them being discussed or offered, so we wouldn’t exactly bank on this just yet.

How likely is a Julian Alvarez and Viktor Gyokeres swap deal?

While it’s always important to respect different journalists and their sources, we also feel a duty to inform our readers that this is probably a story that is unlikely to go anywhere.

As already noted, swap deals are rare, and it’s hard to imagine Arsenal would be prepared to offload Gyokeres after just one season in which he actually finished with more goals than Alvarez, and contributed to their Premier League title win.

That’s not to say the Sweden international’s time at the Emirates Stadium has been perfect, but it’s surely enough to earn him a bit more time.

Targeting Alvarez still makes sense to give Arsenal more options up front, so that could still be something worth watching out for.

However, the idea that a huge swap like this would already be agreed just doesn’t seem plausible, especially when there’s been no indication of top tier journalists like David Ornstein or Fabrizio Romano reporting anything similar.

El Chiringuito’s journalists obviously have genuine connections and break a lot of major stories, but there’s a general consensus that they also sensationalise things a bit for their audience, and that some of their exclusives should be taken with a pinch of salt.