Arsenal target gives green light to Atletico exit but fee will be huge

Arsenal target Julian Alvarez has given the green light to a transfer away from Atletico Madrid, but he’ll command a huge fee and other clubs hold a strong interest too.

Pedro Fullana reports for Cadena SER that Julian Alvarez sees his future away from Atletico Madrid, and he’s given the green light to a summer transfer. Whilst the player is happy in Madrid and in Spain, he wants to take the next step in his career.

Alvarez reportedly believes he’ll grow more at a team like FC Barcelona or Paris Saint-Germain, with Barcelona seemingly his preferred destination.

But Atletico have been clear that the player’s departure would have to be for a huge fee, suggesting a figure in the region of €150m (£130m) in initial talks with Barcelona. Barcelona had hoped to do a cash-plus-player deal involving Ferran Torres, but Torres himself isn’t interested.

Cadena SER add that Arsenal have enquired about Alvarez, but haven’t yet made an offer.

Miguel Delaney adds for the Independent that Mikel Arteta is a known admirer of Alvarez, but that PSG have made the more direct pitch so far, making a wage offer and signalling they’re willing to pay €125m (£108.3m).

Again, Delaney suggests that Barcelona would be Alvarez’s first-choice transfer, but that the club don’t have the money to meet Atletico’s demands, whereas Arsenal do.

Arsenal’s problem centres more around how to maximise their available funds, with a move for Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers perhaps better value for money.

Alvarez has scored 20 goals and assisted nine in 49 games for Atletico this season, whilst Rogers has scored 14 and assisted 12 in 55 games for Aston Villa.

Rogers (23) is two-and-a-half years younger than Alvarez (26), and he’s obviously been scoring and assisting most of his goals in the Premier League in 2025/26.

But Alvarez is also Premier League-proven, given his successful spell with Manchester City and the fact six of his 29 goal contributions this season came in his five games against Arsenal and Spurs (admittedly his games against Spurs are doing the heavy lifting there).

Both are clearly talented players who would add a lot to Arsenal, so it’s up to the club to decide if either of them are worth the money this summer.

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