Julian Alvarez isn’t currently considering a move to Arsenal, despite the fact that the Gunners appear to be his only realistic route out of Atletico Madrid.
Spanish outlet Cadena SER report that Atletico Madrid are determined not to sell Julian Alvarez to Barcelona, with plenty of bad blood between the two clubs at the moment.
The report adds that the only realistic option on the table right now is Arsenal, but the player isn’t considering it. Alvarez doesn’t want to go to London, and he’d prefer to play for Barcelona if he leaves Atletico.
As a result, key intermediaries involved in the situation are suggesting that the most likely scenario is that Alvarez will remain where he is for next season.
Atletico are reportedly very confident that Alvarez will stay, and they’re planning for next season under the assumption that the player will be in their squad.
Barcelona are continuing to push for a deal, but their pursuit doesn’t seem to be going anywhere right now.
Previous reports had suggested Atletico would want a huge fee in the region of €150m (£129.6m) to sell Alvarez to Barcelona. The La Liga champions don’t want to pay that much, which is part of why Atletico have grown so frustrated by their transfer approaches.
Alvarez scored 20 goals and assisted nine in 49 games for Atletico this season, and he’s also Premier League-proven, given his successful spell with Manchester City.
Six of his 29 goal contributions this season also came in his five games against Arsenal and Spurs (admittedly his games against Spurs are doing the heavy lifting there).
But if he’s not interested in returning to the Premier League, and if Atletico want nothing to do with Barcelona, there’s no obvious way for a transfer to happen.
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