Arsenal refuse to be beaten in £102m Alvarez race as Simeone drops hint on ‘extraordinary’ forward | OneFootball

Barcelona are continuing to push hard to secure a deal for Julian Alvarez, but Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are refusing to give up on signing the brilliant Argentine, sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk.

Alvarez and his camp decided over Christmas that he was ready to move this summer and they instigated talks with interested parties – as exclusively revealed by TEAMtalk in January.

Throughout the process, Alvarez has made Barcelona his priority, and other leading suitors have been kept informed of that stance.

That includes Paris Saint-Germain, but also Arsenal. Chelsea are also in the mix – their lack of Champions League football could play a part, but sources suggest they remain in the hunt.

TEAMtalk has revealed that the agents and intermediaries working with Alvarez are deep in talks with Barca, but they have made it very clear to the Catalan giants that they will not allow the whole scenario to turn into a saga.

Alvarez is more than open to moving to Paris or London, and sources have insisted to TEAMtalk this week that moving out of Spain is ‘not a hollow threat’ and that has seen talks also continue with PSG, Arsenal and Chelsea.

As we have revealed, Arsenal have also gone as far as confirming to Alvarez that they would allow him to play centrally. They initially thought he could fill their left-sided berth, but that has been debunked by Alvarez, who has insisted he wants to be central, but that has not put Arsenal off.

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Atletico prefer to sell to Arsenal over Barcelona

Atletico know the situation and ahead of the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final with Arsenal. Indeed, their boss Diego Simeone confirmed that they were aware of the clubs following him.

“I’m not inside Julian Alvarez’s head. But it’s normal that an extraordinary player like Julian Alvarez is wanted by Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona,” he told a pre-match press conference.

TEAMtalk is told that Atletico’s initial demands are around €120million (£102m / $140m) minimum, but that is seemingly beyond Barca’s summer budget.

Barca, who are also trying to hammer out terms for Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni, would want Alvarez for less than €100million with the hope of including players.

Arsenal, Chelsea and PSG are all ready to offer straight cash, and we are told Atletico would clearly prefer to sell outside of Spain then allow Alvarez to join a rival.

Atletico clearly want to keep Alvarez, but that would need the player to change his mind in the coming weeks – if not there is still a chance the former Manchester City man could return to England.