"It's a big if" but Sky reporter explains potential Arsenal path towards blockbuster Julian Alvarez transfer | OneFootball

Arsenal have a background interest in Julian Alvarez this summer, with Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth explaining how he could see the Gunners moving for the Atletico Madrid striker.

Although Atletico have been very public in saying that Alvarez is not for sale, it seems the Gunners are lurking in case there’s a major development with the Argentina international.

See below for details as Sheth explains that there might be a possibility at some point that Alvarez himself pushes to be allowed to leave, and that in that instance Atletico might favour a sale to Arsenal instead of to their La Liga rivals Barcelona…

For now it seems that Atletico are absolutely determined to keep Alvarez, and there’s not been any clear indication yet that the player himself is pushing for a move.

Alvarez is at the World Cup with Argentina at the moment, so his focus will undoubtedly be on this weekend’s final against Spain rather than any transfer market activity.

Could Arsenal have a chance in Julian Alvarez transfer race?

Barcelona pursuing Alvarez makes sense as the 26-year-old has been a prolific scorer during his time in Spain, and he looks ideal to come in as a long-term replacement for departing veteran striker Robert Lewandowski.

Alvarez scored 49 goals in 106 appearances across two seasons with Atletico, so he could take his game to an even higher level with a club like Barca or Arsenal.

It would be quite a statement if Arsenal could get him as an upgrade on the slightly unconvincing Viktor Gyokeres, but it’s clearly going to be very expensive as he’s protected by a £500m release clause.

AFC would obviously try to negotiate that down, but Atletico don’t currently seem to be in the mood for negotiating with anyone.

Things seem unlikely to get particularly interesting in this saga unless Alvarez makes it clear he wants to leave.