€70m-plus-player bid prepared which threatens to derail Arsenal’s transfer plans
Arsenal could reportedly be facing a very real threat to their hopes of signing Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez as Barcelona plan an offer.
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Alvarez has been linked with Arsenal by ESPN in recent times, but it seems the Gunners are not alone in targeting the Argentina international.
It seems Barcelona could also strongly enter the conversation by offering €70m plus a player or even multiple players to Atletico Madrid.
That’s according to a report from Fichajes, which states that Barca could be ready to use Marc Casado, Ansu Fati, or Eric Garcia as part of any deal for Alvarez.
Julian Alvarez transfer fee looks unaffordable
Barcelona’s desire to use players as part of the deal is due to Atletico’s crazily high asking price of around €200m.
Paying a fee like that looks a lot harder in the modern era of Financial Fair Play regulations, and it’s debatable if the former Manchester City man is even worth that.
The 26-year-old has a decent record of 42 goals in 92 games for Diego Simeone’s side, but he’s currently on a really poor run, scoring just two goals in his club’s last 16 games in La Liga and the Champions League.
One imagines this is just a blip and that Alvarez could be an upgrade on someone like Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal, but he’s not looking anywhere near a €200m player right now.
Will Julian Alvarez pick Arsenal or Barcelona?
It’s not yet clear if Alvarez will definitely be moving this summer, but if he does have to choose between Arsenal and Barcelona, it would be interesting to see his choice.
Mikel Arteta’s side look promising but have had some recent issues, so it’s not clear if it’s something that’s ever truly going to develop into a winning project.
Barcelona have a far better recent history when it comes to winning major trophies, so it could be that that would be more tempting for him.
Alvarez had a good spell as a squad player at Man City and might fancy another stint in England, but he’s also definitely performed better in Spain, so it could make more sense for him to stay there.
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