Spectacular Arsenal signing of £82m forward dubbed ‘game over’ for title rivals as ‘discreet talks’ already held | OneFootball

Former England frontman Gary Lineker claims it would ‘game over’ for Arsenal’s Premier League rivals if the Gunners sealed a move for Atletico Madrid attacker Julian Alvarez, a player who TEAMtalk can reveal ‘discreet talks’ have already taken place over.

A surprise 3-2 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday means the gap to Manchester City and third-placed Aston Villa at the top of the Premier League is now just four points.

One remarkable fact about Arsenal‘s season so far is that no player has scored more than five goals, despite the Gunners being top of both the Premier League and expanded Champions League group phase tables.

Summer signing Viktor Gyokeres is the club’s top scorer with five goals to date, but there is disappointment over that return given the £64million Arsenal forked out for his signature from Sporting.

While Gabriel Jesus is back from injury, the Brazilian has hardly been a consistent scorer in a Gunners shirt, while also coping with his fair share of injury issues.

To that end, our correspondent Graeme Bailey recently revealed that Arsenal have held talks with intermediaries about a move for Atletico star Alvarez, with the former Manchester City man’s future in the Spanish capital increasingly in doubt.

Argentina hitman Alvarez, who won two Premier League titles at City, was tipped for a move to The Emirates in the 2025 winter window, only for Arsenal to then cool that interest in the summer when they opted for Gyokeres instead.

Alvarez the missing piece for Arsenal

However, Lineker suggests that Arsenal signing Alvarez, who cost Atletico £82m when he left City in the summer of 2024, would be a crushing blow to their Premier League rivals.

“They’ve not got anyone really banging in the goals on a regular basis,” Lineker said on The Rest is Football podcast after Arsenal’s defeat to United.

“Gabriel Jesus has come back and scored one or two but there was a reason they needed to sign a new No. 9 in the first place.

“I like Jesus and always have, he’s got a great work ethic, he chases and harries and does get a few goals. He’s a bit streaky – when he’s on he’s on but when he’s off he a bit of a confidence player.

“It’s probably complete b*** as most of these things are on social media but I saw they were linked with Julian Alvarez, who I know is not entirely happy with life at Atletico.

“Now that is the sort of player you know can handle the big occasion – he’s a World Cup winner for crying out loud. Someone like that at Arsenal would be game over.

“But they do need one or two of these current forwards to start scoring on a reasonably regular basis.”

The Gunners are back in action on Wednesday night when they host FC Kairat in the Champions League, before heading to Leeds United in the Premier League on Saturday.

Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta is reportedly plotting to secure a stunning raid on Real Madrid for one of the club’s top young talents, who is reputed to be unhappy at false promises given by new Bernabeu chief Alvaro Arbeloa.

Elsewhere, Arsenal are in talks over bringing Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala to the Emirates Stadium, according to a German source, who has also revealed the ‘dream’ club for the youngster.

Finally, Arsenal are in the mix to sign a player already drawing comparisons to the world’s second best midfielder, and a key official has confirmed an offer has been received, though it’s unclear whether it’s from The Gunners.