Arsenal ‘pushing hardest’ for Julian Alvarez transfer but face battle with Premier League rivals for ex-Man City star
ARSENAL are reportedly exploring a deal to sign Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid this summer.
The Gunners are keen to sign a striker as the final piece of their puzzle as they look to finally go one further than their three consecutive second placed finishes next season.
According to Spanish outlet Marca, one of their preferred options at centre-forward is former Manchester City man Julian Alvarez.
Alvarez, 25, joined Atletico Madrid last summer in a deal worth up to £80m.
And the Argentine has had an impressive first campaign in Spain, scoring 29 goals and registering seven assists in all competitions this season.
That effort has seen many top clubs begin to circle the World Cup winner, including Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
But Marca claim that Arsenal are “pushing hardest” of the interested clubs to convince Alvarez to jump ship.
However, it won’t be easy to get a deal over the line with Atletico thought to be keen to keep hold of their star man and Alvarez seemingly happy to stay put too.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone has said that Atletico “need” to keep hold of Alvarez, hinting that the club want to build around their star man to get the best out of him.
He said: “We need Julian. He’s the one we wanted to find.
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“He’s here, and I hope he’s happy to be on this team. We’re going to help him with everyone’s hard work to unleash his talent.”
Arsenal may have to look elsewhere for a new front man if Atletico stand firm in their hopes to keep Alvarez at the Metropolitano Stadium.
The Gunners have been linked with Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres and RB Leipzig talent Benjamin Sesko.
Both forwards are seemingly available for transfer this summer and could be easier deals to get over the line for Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal hierarchy.