Atletico Madrid will offer Julian Alvarez deal to club that isn’t Barcelona | OneFootball

On Monday night, Julian Alvarez sent shockwaves through Spanish football, openly declaring his desire to leave Atletico Madrid. With Barcelona showing strong interest in the Argentina international, it is believed that Alvarez would prefer a move to the Catalan side, but that is the last thing that Los Colchoneros want.

Alvarez did not name Barcelona when stating that ‘a transfer would be best for all’, but did say “I want to fulfil a dream.” Reports in Spain claim that Alvarez has made his preference to join the Blaugrana clear to Atletico Madrid internally. With a €500m release clause, and a deal running until 2030 though, Atletico are firmly in control of his future.

Atletico Madrid will offer Julian Alvarez to Arsenal

In addition to Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal have been mostly strongly linked to Alvarez, although that interest has appeared to fade somewhat over the past few weeks. Nevertheless, Cadena Cope believe that Atletico see Arsenal as a potential way out of their tricky situation.

They say that Atletico are ‘exploring’ the option of selling Alvarez to Arsenal for somewhere between €40m and €60m, with the inclusion of Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres. The former Sporting CP striker is a classic number nine in the mould that Diego Simeone likes, and would also encourage the sale Alexander Sorloth, who is a similar profile of player. It is not clear if Arsenal are open to the deal or not, but there has been some suggestion they would be open to the idea of parting with Gyokeres, who himself signed for €60m last summer.

Would Alvarez accept Atletico Madrid solution?

The second part of that equation is whether Alvarez would be sold on the deal. The 26-year-old already has experience of the Premier League at Manchester City, and in London, there is an Argentine community, but seems to have his heart set on a move to Barcelona. By the same token as Alvarez can leverage his desire to leave now though, Atletico can leverage the fact that the crowd will likely turn against Alvarez, and he will not want to remain at the Metropolitano after his public declaration.